It is unfortunate that a Cathedral for God has triggered controversies - Prof Agyeman-Duah

Prof Baffour Agyeman-Duah, a governance expert, has bemoaned the controversies surrounding the construction of the National Cathedral of Ghana, a facility which is meant to honour God.

According to him, the handlers of the project appear to be divided on issues surrounding the construction.

He added that the Board of Trustees of the Cathedral have also not been able to adequately respond to allegations of corruption being made by Ghanaians, 3news.com reports.

“So, first, we can see some kinds of division within the board itself. Secondly, statements from the board and other officials of the Cathedral turn out to be contradictory and of course, when somebody comes out with revelations as Mr Ablakwa has done then we don’t get straight answers to that.

“So, it is very unfortunate that something that was conceived to honour God has become controversial in our nation,” he said.

Prof Agyeman-Duah made these remarks while reacting to the latest corruption exposé on the National Cathedral by MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, portions of which suggested impropriety on the part of the secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng.

On January 16, 2023, the MP made some allegations against Rev. Kusi Boateng, who is the secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana.

In an earlier revelation about the National Cathedral, Okudzeto Ablakwa said a whopping GH¢2.6 million was dished out to a company named JNS Talent Centre Limited.

Further investigations into the alleged payment led to the discovery of one Kwabena Adu Gyamfi as a director of JNS Talent Centre.

Having confirmed the identities of two out of three directors of the centre, Ablakwa dug deeper in a bid to discover the identity of the third director, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

According to his findings, citing a number of statutory documents, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi was the same as Reverend Kusi Boateng, who has allegedly been operating under the pseudonym Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

But Kusi Boateng, in a statement sighted by GhanaWeb, said that the allegations made against him by Ablakwa are mere fabrications.

He said that the accusations the MP made against him are for political purposes, adding that he has not engaged in any criminal activity in his dealings with the National Cathedral project.

Rev Kusi Boateng also said that he is waiting on the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) which has been petitioned by Ablakwa to investigate him.

He added that he will explore the legal options available to him against the MP for deliberately defaming him.



IB/SARA