The Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana has acknowledged public concerns about the project and has therefore resolved to subject the project to an audit.
The Trustees came to this conclusion at a meeting on January 23, 2023.
There have been concerns about the justification for the construction of the National Cathedral within the context of the current economic challenges confronting the nation.
There have also been issues bothering on accountability as the project is rocked by a number of scandals.
A state signed by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah, on Tuesday said the services of audit firm, Deloitte, have been engaged to commence audit work into the project.
“The Board is already in discussions to engage Deloitte, which accepted to be the auditors when the National Cathedral was registered, to commence the normal statutory audit”, the statement said.
The Board of Trustees further noted that it has submitted documentation on the project to Parliament and open to an independent audit by the legislature.
“In addition, the Board submitted all relevant documentation on the project to Parliament in December 2022. Thus, if Parliament so desires, it may set up a commission or appoint an independent auditor to review all issues concerning the award of contract, procurement, construction works and financial operations of the National Cathedral project so far.”
The Board of Trustees also maintained that they are ready to be subjected to any form of probe by CHRAJ.
“The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) which is the constitutionally mandated body to investigate matters of procurement and accountability in such projects, has also made the Board a respondent in its investigations into the operations of the National Cathedral project. The Board will cooperate fully with CHRAJ in its work,” the statement noted.
The Board is hopeful of completing the project once all the nagging issues surrounding the project have been resolved.
“It is the hope and trust of the Board of the National Cathedral of Ghana that once these nagging issues are satisfactorily dealt with, the public interest and confidence in the project would be restored and rekindled to enable the citizenry to contribute generously to complete the Cathedral to the glory of God.”
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