The Executive Director of the Ghana National Cathedral has refuted claims that the project has been suspended.
According to Dr. Paul Opoku Mensah, contrary to the common belief that the site had been abandoned and was devoid of significance, two floors have been constructed there.
He explained that the project had reached the steel-laying phase, so the building cannot proceed without it.
Dr. Opuku Mensah added that, as the structure is anticipated to be the largest municipal structure in the nation, only pre-engineered steel will be required moving forward.
JoyNews and AdomNews 100 million dollars for Cathedral Steel
He stated that it will cost $100 million to import all of the steel required for the construction to proceed.
He explained on Okay FM that the architectural design does not include the use of blocks, so the project will continue once the secretariat receives the funds.
He emphasized that the design will help the structure last for decades. The cathedral endeavor has severely divided public opinion throughout the nation.
In recent months, the project has been frequently in the news as numerous concerns have been raised about the project's use of allocated resources.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, member of parliament for North Tongu, is one of the individuals who has persistently questioned the work and accused the project administrators of misconduct.
The MP, who has been on a mission to expose everything wrong with the project, revealed in his most recent Facebook post that, of the over $58 million allocated to the project, only US$22.07 million went to the contractors, RIBADE JV, for actual construction.
Already, the government has been criticized for spending enormous amounts of cathedral funds on consulting services and other expenses.
"Ghanaians will be shocked to learn this morning that only a fraction of the US$22.07 million unconstitutionally withdrawn without parliamentary approval for Akufo-Addo's cathedral project went to the contractors, RIBADE JV," he stated.
According to him, this was revealed when the contractors disclosed to the legislature how the 58.14 million dollar project budget was spent.
He added, "This means that of the US$ 58.14 million in taxpayer funds improperly released for Akufo-Addo's cathedral, more than US$ 36 million was spent on non-essential items."
We now know that only 37.9 percent of the total public funds released were distributed to the contractors.
However, the lawmaker noted that questions have been brought about how the $22.07 million was utilized by RIBADE JV.
Therefore, he questioned whether the government's request for $100 million to import steel for the project would be used appropriately.
In any case, based on their own shady track record, there is no assurance that, if given $100 million, all of it will be used for its intended purpose.
The National Cathedral Secretariat has always maintained that there has been no malfeasance or corruption in the project's execution.
It recently hired the renowned auditing firm Deloitte to conduct an audit of its accounts in the interest of transparency and accountability.