National Cathedral project in limbo as Parliament suspends ₵80m approval fund

The approval of GH80 million set aside for the National Cathedral’s building has been delayed by the Trades and Industry Committee of Parliament.

The Committee did not approve the allocation, which was given to the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), because the members demanded more information from the minister responsible for the industry.

The National Cathedral funding would not be included in the Ministry’s estimates until the Committee is satisfied, according to Tamale Central MP Murtala Mohammed, who revealed this to JoyNews.

“The Committee determined that in order to properly approve this GH80 million, we must also be aware of how the GH339 million was spent.
What was it made of?

“The GH₵80 million you want us to approve, how did it find space in the budget line of the Ministry of Tourism when the Minister and the directors could not speak to the questions we were asking? What constitutes the GH₵80 million, they should give us a breakdown,” he disclosed in an interview with JoyNews’ Parliamentary Affairs Correspondent, Kwaku Asante on Tuesday, December 13.

The MP stated that the Committee has requested an explanation from the Finance Minister and other interested parties over the GH339 million already spent on the National Cathedral.

“Those who expended the money we are inviting them, we are inviting the Secretariat to come and explain, the Minister for Finance to come and explain to us how they spent those monies. If not, it will be unconscionable if we will go ahead to approve this,” he stated.

The Finance Minister’s proposed appropriation bill for the 2023 budget, which contained the GH80 million allotment for the National Cathedral, has not yet been approved by Parliament.

Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed also asserted that the Minister and Ministry technocrats were not informed of the allocation, which the Presidency allegedly pushed on the Ministry.
He claimed that the technocrats from the MoT were unable to give the Committee a breakdown of the allocation.

“Is it the case that it was imposed on the Minister and the Ministry from the flagstaff House? I get the sense that is what happened, because if it was not imposed on the Minister, the Directors and the Chief Directors who were all there, they should have been able to provide us with the answers, they could not do that so it is ridiculous,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Okyehene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II has pleaded support for the building of the National Cathedral so as not to bring shame to President Akufo-Addo.

The MP in responding to Okyehene’s comment said the National Cathedral cannot be built at the expense of the hardship of Ghanaians.

“We have a very respected traditional leader who says that we should not bring shame. We should not bring shame at the expense of our survival, so because of avoiding shame people must rob in the name of God. You think God will be happy? I think that God is angry with this government.”