The Executive Director of the National Cathedral Secretariat, Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah, has maintained that the office does not have any contract with any architect in the project's development.
He explained that the secretariat's contractual obligations are primarily with a consultant and a design team, consisting of approximately 12 to 15 companies, the majority of which are Ghanaian entities.
Addressing the media in Accra, Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah dismissed claims suggesting the payment of substantial sums to an architect.
He noted that there is no such specific contract.
“In the case of the consultant, let me stress that this includes the list of all the companies in the consultant’s team. So, all these ideas that somehow, we brought in an architect and paid him huge sums of money, No. we don't have a contract for an architect.
"We have a contract for a consultant and a design team made up of about 12 to 12-15 companies, majority of which are Ghanaian companies,” he stated.
Regarding the financial disbursements, Dr. Opoku-Mensah provided a breakdown of the funds received and allocated.
“We received a total of GH¢339 million and the amount paid directly to the National Cathedral was GH¢ 225 million and the amount directly to the consultant JS associates was GH¢ 113 million. So, the two payments that we received from the design team and us, comes to the same amount.
“First, there is no missing figure or amount that we have not been able to accounted for. Second, and as I indicated, the detailed accounting for these funds were provided to parliament on December 15, 2022 by the secretariat. In the case of the accounting of the secretariat, this involves among others, 1, total payments made to the contractor, which was a cedi equivalent of GH¢22.5million advance payment with a letter of intent and GH¢12.5 million, an advance payment made with a letter of award. All of these figures are in representation,” he stated.
Dr. Opoku-Mensah further expressed hope that the comprehensive financial breakdown provided to parliament would initiate constructive conversations and provide necessary clarifications regarding the financial aspects of the National Cathedral project.
“Secondly, what the detailed accounting also includes is total payment made to the bible museum and biblical garden design team, which amounts to GH¢ 4.2 million, once again it is there and we hope this is the beginning of a set of conversation for those clarification,” he added.
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The Executive Director of the National Cathedral Secretariat, Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah