Bright Simons gives ‘update’ on National Cathedral audit

The vice president of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has given an update on the ongoing audit into the construction of the National Cathedral of Ghana by Deloitte.

In a post shared on X on Monday, March 4, 2024, Simons indicated that his sources privy to the ongoing audit have said that Deloitte was shocked at the infractions at the early stage of its investigation.

He added that the sources have indicated that the opinion (findings) of Deloitte after the audit would certainly be adverse – meaning the financial statements on the cathedral are misleading or do not follow generally accepted accounting principles.

“Sources say that upon commencing an audit of Ghana's National Cathedral, Deloitte was met with a shocking lack of internal controls & the absence of even basic manuals.

“It is now 1 year since the exercise began. Sources say the right opinion should be adverse, not even qualified,” the IMANI vice president wrote.

He also questioned how the government, the secretariat of the National Cathedral and Deloitte can 'manage' the situation since a clean audit is no longer possible.

“These sources ask how the Presidency, the line Ministry, the National Cathedral Secretariat, & Deloitte intend to ‘manage’ this situation since a clean/unqualified audit is out of the question at this stage. Whatever be the case, citizens are asking: where is the audit report?” he quizzed.

The Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral announced in January 2023 that it was engaging Deloitte to audit its books following concerns of misappropriations.

“The Board is already in discussions to engage Deloitte, which accepted to be the auditors when the National Cathedral was registered, to commence the normal statutory audit,” the Board through its Chairman, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah said in a statement.

Two members of the Board of Trustees of the cathedral, Rev Eastwood Anaba and Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, resigned citing the failure of the secretariat to allow an audit of its books despite the numerous corruption allegations in the project.

Read Bright Simons' post below:

These sources ask how the Presidency, the line Ministry, the National Cathedral Secretariat, & Deloitte intend to "manage" this situation since a clean/unqualified audit is out of the question at this stage. Whatever be the case, citizens are asking: where is the audit report?

— Bright Simons (@BBSimons) March 4, 2024