Ghana: Abrogate Nat'l Cathedral Project - Minority Demands

17 March 2023
Ghanaian Times (Accra)
By Julius Yao Petetsi

The Minority in Parliament has called on the gov­ernment to abrogate the National Cathedral project.

The caucus said one year since the contractors left site, the government must come to the realisation that the project had become moribund.

"A year is enough time for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to come to the realisation that the project remains a castle in the air, it remains a pipe dream and it remains an infeasible project particularly considering our economy circumstances.

"It is time to close shop, time to totally abandon the project because it cannot be complet­ed as scheduled," lead advocate against the Cathedral Project and MP for North Tongu in the Volta Region, Okudzeto Ablakwa, told journalists at a press conference in parliament yesterday.

According to him, what was even more worrying was the de­tails of the contract which places obligation on the country in delays that may be occasioned by the employer.

"As this project remains sus­pended, the already suffocating taxpayer is being burdened with more cost,one year of remarkable inactivity comes at considerable cost as per analysis, it will cost extramillions of dollars," Mr Ab­lakwa stressed.

He noted that considering the delays and associated cost of facilities that were pulled down to make way for construction of the cathedral, the project could cost onebillion dollars.

"That is why we are saying President Akufo-Addo on the first anniversary of inactivity, we demand they abrogate the contract because we believe as long as the contractors continue to hold valid contracts, it is extra burden to the Ghanaian taxpayer.

"The need for the project to be discontinued is imperative, considering the economic cir­cumstances of the country since we have defaulted on our loans, we have been declared bankrupt, for the first time we can't procure vaccines for our babies, yet the government is refusing to abro­gate the national cathedral project which has become a pipe dream," Mr Ablakwa stated.

The caucus, he explained, with the economic challenges were of the conviction that "it is time this project is abrogated, cancelled, the board of trustees dissolved, the secretariat closed down, everybody should be asked to go home and let us save money.

Mr Ablakwa indicated that the millions of dollars that was being accumulated (in the name of this project) was not worth it because it was the most reckless thing to do at the time of national eco­nomic predicament

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