The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has replied the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana, Prof Opoku Onyinah, over comments he made concerning his recent claims of corruption linked to the project.
Speaking earlier, Apostle Prof Opoku Onyinah stressed that there is no truth in the fact that the project is linked to corrupt practices.
He added that it is actually because such claims of corruption are non-existent that a number of them (the clergy) are still associated with the project.
“The things people are saying are not the truth. Because we the trustees have not seen any corruption going on with the project… we have now contracted a renowned auditing firm, Deloitte, to look into our books, so we are not afraid of anything.
“But what we are urging is that we have laws in this country, and if something is not going well, you have to apply the laws. So that if someone has truly embezzled monies meant for the project, the person will be arrested and prosecuted.
“If something is truly going on, you don’t just publish them just to become popular. These issues should not be used for a popularity contest, channel them through legal means,” he said in Twi when asked about Ablakwa’s allegations.
But the North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has come back hard at the revered clergyman, reminding him that God is not neutral.
He stated, in a series of tweets, that none of his allegations at the National Cathedral are in a vacuum, as has been reported across multiple platforms from the beginning of the year.
“May I respectfully remind Apostle Opoku Onyinah that the egregious discoveries I have made about the sleazy ‘National’ Cathedral project have not merely been published on social media. It is public knowledge that in January this year, I presented to CHRAJ a conflict of interest petition regarding the conduct of Apostle Onyinah’s colleague board member, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi/Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng.
“It has equally been widely reported that I have successfully filed a motion in Parliament demanding a full scale public parliamentary inquiry into the putrefying cathedral affair — a motion which was duly admitted in March this year by the Right Honourable Speaker, Alban S.K. Bagbin.
“Worthy of additional reminder is the fact that a number of institutions such as the Ghana Revenue Authority, Public Procurement Authority and the Office of the Registrar of Companies have all formally responded to my Right to Information Requests — responses which have all confirmed and vindicated my painstaking findings,” he wrote.
The North Tongu MP also used the tweet to inform the Chairman of the Board of the Trustees of the National Cathedral, Apostle Prof Opoku Onyinah, that what he seeks is in the interest of Ghana first.
He refuted the claims by the revered priest that his intentions are for popularity, adding that if that was so, he would have registered for such reality shows like Date Rush or Big Brother Africa.
“With the greatest of respect, if my intention was to engage in a popularity contest, I would have applied to host Date Rush or signed up for Big Brother Africa.
“Members of Parliament who in the patriotic pursuit of their constitutional mandate of oversight make great sacrifices, take tremendous risks, refuse to be compromised, and insist on not bowing to Baal as the Bible teaches Christians, should at the very least, be encouraged, and not vilified.
“Thankfully, between truth and falsehood, graft and oversight — God is not neutral. For God and Country. Ghana First,” he ended his series of tweets.
May I respectfully remind Apostle Opoku Onyinah that the egregious discoveries I have made about the sleazy “National” Cathedral project have not merely been published on social media.
It is public knowledge that in January this year, I presented to CHRAJ a conflict of interest pic.twitter.com/cx4cINL2T5
— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) May 27, 2023
Background:
Ablakwa, in his latest exposé on the National Cathedral, alleged that the American consultant to the National Cathedral project gave an official address that leads to a warehouse.
He said that when he visited the facility during his trip, he saw no offices but rather: "a ramshackle warehouse with the inscription: Churchill Coffee Company, Wholesale Division."
"We also decided to embark on the long travel to Springfield in Missouri where Mr. Cary Lee Summers who has been given US$ 6 million of our money is described on the National Cathedral of Ghana website as 'Consultant for the United States'.
"When we arrived at that address, there was nothing about the Nehemiah Group. We surprisingly saw quite a ramshackle warehouse with the inscription: Churchill Coffee Company, Wholesale Division,” he added.
The MP also said that Eric Okyere Darko, a member of the legal team of Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong, was listed as a trustee on the Ghana National Cathedral in Washington DC registration documents in the United States.
The MP stated in his social media post that per his checks, the project's registration details in Ghana differed from what he got from that of the US.
Also, whiles eminent clergymen were dominant on the Board of Trustees in Ghana registration papers, in the case of the US, there were three persons.
The only common personality on both sides is Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah, the Executive Secretary to the National Cathedral of Ghana project.
Watch the interview below:
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Okudzeto Ablakwa says if he needed popularity, he would have been on Date Rush