Okudzeto Ablakwa has disclosed that the Cathedral project still accumulates debt even as contractors have left the site. He made the disclosure as part of a series of publications to mark one year after the National Cathedral project was abandoned. He has called on President Nana Akufo-Addo to stop the project entirely to save the country money. Firebrand opposition lawmaker Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has marked one year after the abandonment of the controversial National Cathedral project with a thought-provocating press conference on March 14, 2023. He disclosed at the short presser that although the project has been abandoned over lack of funds and contractors have left the site, the agreement signed by the government is accumulating huge debts.
L-R: The extent of work at the National Cathedral site after huge funds have been sunk into it, and an old photo that captures the day the foundation stone was laid. Source: Facebook/@okudzetoablakwa Source: Facebook
Taking to his social media pages, he expressed the fear that a judgement debt may be looming over the controversial project. “Per the contract between government and RIBADE, this one year suspension comes at considerable cost to the already suffering Ghanaian taxpayer.
RIBADE is now entitled to ‘Abortive and re-works costs due to main contractor suspension’ and other ‘Standing time claims’ which experts say run into additional millions of US Dollars,” he posted on Facebook on March 14, 2023. He observed that the National Cathedral debt is accumulating amid Ghana’s inability to honour its major loan obligations and is struggling to obtain critical things vaccines to immunise infants from some of the deadly childhood diseases.
Stop the project, save Ghana money – Ablakwa Ablakwa noted further that it is baffling that President Akufo-Addo has refused to stop the controversy-riddled project that it is struggling to find money to raise up. “President Akufo-Addo and the beleaguered Cathedral Board of Trustees must act now,” Ablakwa sounded furious in his passionate write-up on Facebook. He said a whole year of inactivity on the Cathedral project proves that Akufo-Addo’s darling project that he called the “priority of priorities” has died.
The North Tongu MP also said although the project consumed a whopping $58 million before it was abandoned it is nothing but a huge pit. Ablakwa claims first consignment of baby vaccines came from Nigeria. Meanwhile, it has been reported in a separate story that Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa disclosed that the vaccines that arrived at the Kotoka International Airport on March 11, 2023, were donated to Ghana by Nigeria.
The MP made the claim in a post on Facebook on March 13 after many felt the vaccines came from UNICEF as health minister Kwaku Agyeman Manu promised. Ghana has for many weeks been hit by a severe case of shortage of baby vaccines nationwide, and already, five reports of deaths from measles have been recorded in the Northern Region.
Credit: yen.com.gh
