Okudzeto wants gov’t to abrogate National Cathedral contract

By Eugene Davis

ask the contractors to go home, particularly at this time.

ment house in Accra yesterday, Mr.l Okudzeto Ablakwa, said the over US$1billion project would not materialise hence the need for the government to abrogate the project and dissolve the board of trustees.

“On the occasion of the rst anniversary, since the project was abandoned, we are saying that it is time for President Akufo-Addo and the Board of Trustees to cut their losses. They should abrogate this contract, close the shop and

We cannot even meet obligations that we owe our creditors, we have defaulted on our loans, and we have been declared bankrupt. We have been declared insolvent. For the rst time in our history, we cannot buy vaccines…this is where we are, our nances are in dire straits.

“The government itself admits and that is why it has made an embarrassing U-turn on the issue of road tolls. It is desperately looking for money and yet the government is refusing to abrogate this national cathedral project, which clearly has become a pipe dream, a project which clearly cannot materialize,” he said.

He also stated that the Ghanaian taxpayer could end up paying US$1billion for the construction of the edi ce that has already been embroiled in a lot of controversies and allegations of corruption.

Despite claims that the 5,000-seater cathedral project is a wasted priority, the government claim it will bring new skills, technology and jobs to the country and act as a beacon to national, regional and international tourists. It has selected celebrated architect David Adjaye to design the building.

President Akufo-Addo rst revealed plans for the cathedral after he won the 2016 election and the architect was appointed two years later. But work on what the president has referred to as "his gratitude to God" only began in 2022, two years after his re-election.

Ghana is entering a belt-tightening phase after securing a preliminary agreement for a $3 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund.

The cathedral’s original price tag of $100 million has quadrupled amid an economic crisis that has seen the cedi currency plunge and in ation surge. The state has already spent more than $58 million on the project.