We are ready for full-scale investigation – National Cathedral Secretariat
The National Cathedral Secretariat is set to commence processes to engage a private audit firm to undertake full-scale investigations into public funds used for the construction of the National Cathedral project.
In a statement signed by the Board Chairman, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah, on January 24, said it had noticed the calls for investigations into the project and was ready to deliver full documents on the project so far.
The Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral has also assured that they will fully cooperate with the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in the investigation into alleged corrupt practices relating to the project.
“The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) which is the constitutionally mandated body to investigate matters of procurement and accountability in such projects, has also made the Board a respondent in its investigations into the operations of the National Cathedral project. The Board will cooperate fully with CHRAJ in its work,” the statement noted.
The Board revealed that it had taken steps to engage Deloitte, an auditing firm, to begin auditing the documents on the project.
“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 statement added.
This comes in the wake of a push for an audit by two members of the Board of Trustees, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams and Reverend Eastwood Anaba.
They said construction should only resume when the current economic challenges are resolved, and an audit into the use of public funds is carried out.
The two had earlier publicly declared their support for the project and said this new move was not a departure from their earlier position but necessary due to the current circumstances.
According to them, the suspension will pave the way for transparency and accountability to be provided to the Ghanaian people.
In a memo sent to the Board of Trustees on Monday, January 23, they called for an independent audit into the expenditures of the project.
They added that “the current economic climate in Ghana presents obstacles to the timely construction and completion of the National Cathedral”, adding that “a deferred dream is not a dream denied”.
“.. that current activities advancing the construction of Ghana’s National Cathedral shall be deferred until the atmospherics in Ghana are improved and the audit of the Cathedral account is done”.
Meanwhile, former Auditor General Daniel Domelevo is urging Parliament to disallow the government’s use of public funds for the project without parliamentary approval.