The National Cathedral Secretariat has addressed a number of complaints made by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, about how it conducted its business in the United States of America (USA) in connection with the cathedral project.
This week, Mr. Ablakwa claimed in a social media post and in a few radio interviews that he had discovered certain "illegal" acts of the secretariat in the USA that were undisclosed to the Ghanaian Parliament.
He said that they registered the Cathedral project in Washington under a different name, used a purportedly "fraudulent" location on the registration forms in the US, and did not include any members or clergymen of the Ghana Board of Trustees in the US listing. the payment of US$6 million to an American consultant, whom Mr. Ablakwa claims he has seen in the US, and the identification of two persons who were unknown to the Parliament of Ghana in the US incorporation forms.
Mr. Ablakwa said that the Secretariat had registered the "National Cathedral of Ghana and Bible Museum Foundation, Inc." as a non-profit organization in the United States of America in what he called "five bombshells" on the National Cathedral Project.
Mr. Ablakwa explained that he discovered this on a recent trip to the US and questioned why the National Cathedral's trustee members were not listed in the articles of incorporation and trustee list that were submitted to US authorities but rather the names of governors and authorized representatives were.
Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, Dr. Vernon Darko, and Eric Okyere Darko are the individuals included in the two-year report for domestic and foreign filing entities.
Response
In response to the concerns, the National Cathedral Secretariat issued a press release on May 2, 2023, stating that while it views accountability concerns as crucial to the project and welcomes "Parliamentary oversight of state resources in the project," such oversight should take place in Parliament or through statutory bodies established for the purpose rather than on social media.
According to the press release from the National Cathedral of Ghana, Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, the Secretariat is adamant about staying out of the ongoing, tit-for-tat social media fight over the project.
He did, however, assert that the Secretariat will, as and when required for the sake of accountability and openness, give information and/or explanation on various parts of the initiative.
Dr. Opoku-Mensah stated, "However, we urge once more that parliamentary supervision is not performed on social media but in Parliament or through statutory authorities created for the purpose.
On social media, the North Tongu Member of Parliament has been outspoken over the National Cathedral proposal.
This past week, Mr. Ablakwa posted something on Facebook that said, "As promised, here we go with Episode 2 of the American Edition of "National" Cathedral Scandals, which is bound to hit many Ghanaians like artillery bombardment."
blogpay
Total Comments: 0