Because we are carrying out God’s job, we don’t respond to Ablakwa’s falsehoods, says Dr. Opoku Mensah

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, has come under fire from the Director of the National Cathedral, Dr. Paul Opoku Mensah, over claims of corruption he has made about the cathedral project.

He contends that all of the legislator’s accusations regarding the cathedral project are untrue and should be ignored.

On Friday, June 9, 2023, Dr. Opoku Mensah said in an interview with UTV that the National Cathedral’s Board of Trustees members are silent about the accusations made by Ablakwa because they are unable to engage in online debating of lies.

“Everything Okudzeto Ablakwa is claiming is false,’ I said. Since we are carrying out God’s mission and are unable to follow him into social media to dispute, we choose not to react to his accusations.

“All of the financial usage data were provided to parliament, and we have them all. He said in the Twi language, “This is it, we are not lying.

He continued by saying that the Ghanaian Parliament has authorised all of the administration of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s backing for the cathedral project.

In his most recent exposé on the National Cathedral, Ablakwa claimed that Sir David Adjaye, the architect of the National Cathedral of Ghana, received an extra $6 million only for changing the cathedral’s initial plan to incorporate a restaurant.

The MP criticised the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration for continuing to fail to address the needs of the country in light of the present economic difficulties in a series of tweets published on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.

Ablakwa found it hard to believe that the government, which claims it lacks the funds to pay for school meals, could afford to pay for cathedral renovations.

The MP revealed an alleged document from the Ministry of Finance that was supposed to support the claimed payment.

Please refer to your letter No. SCR/DE3/296/02 dated April 27, 2021, in which you requested the release of US$5.817.769.65 (fifty million, eight hundred and seventeen thousand, seven hundred and sixty-nine thousand, five hundred and sixty-five dollars, sixty-five cents) to pay consulting fees related to the Variation Orders for the inclusion of a 300+ Seater Restaurant and an Expanded Bible Museum on the National Cathedral Project.

Parts of the paper stated, “We would like to recommend that, because to financial limitations, the request for the Variation Orders be charged to your funding source while the government takes measures to secure more financing for the project later in the year.”