The Ghanaian architect, working on the National Cathedral, Sir David Adjaye has dismissed claims of opaque dealings in the construction of the edifice.
He said there is nothing wrong with having a healthy debate on the edifice and its funding.
In an interview with JoyNews, he stated that « Everybody should have an opinion and talk about how they feel about everything. Things should be allowed to be investigated and checked till everybody feels comfortable. There is nothing hidden or opaque, everything is going through the system that can be checked through the government. »
His comments come after the Executive Director of the National Cathedral Secretariat, Dr. Paul Opoku Mensah revealed that the government led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo spent a total of GH¢339.003.064.86 on the National Cathedral project.
Giving the breakdown of how the money was spent, Dr. Opoku said a total of GH¢113 million paid was to the Consultant, Sir David Adjaye, and GH¢225 million was paid directly to the Secretariat for the construction of the project.
According to him, « For purposes of clarity, I want to report a verbatim memo I sent on this issue dated 19th January 2022 and addressed to the Clerk of Parliament. The indication was that the government has given us GH¢339 million, and we could account for GH¢225 million leaving GH¢114 million missing. »
« Here, I quote what I wrote to the Clerk. As we indicated to the Committee on Thursday, December 15, 2022, the total amount paid by the Government of Ghana to the National Cathedral project is GH¢339 million. This total is made up of the following: the amount paid directly to the National Cathedral Secretariat is GH¢225 million. The amount paid directly to the Consultant, Adjaye Associates & Design Team is GH¢113.040.54.67 million The two payments total GH¢339.003.064.86.
« So, there are no missing funds that could not be accounted for. Secondly, the detailed account for these funds was provided to Parliament on December 15, 2022, by the Secretariat. In the case of the accounting from the Secretariat, this involves among others, total payments made to the contractor, and total payments made to the Bible Museum and Biblical Gardens Design Team, » he explained.
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