The National Cathedral was being built with unauthorized payments from the Contingency Fund, according to the Finance Minister.
“I want to make it clear that this is simply untrue. Let me be really specific. To make payments for the National Cathedral, I have not taken any money from the Contingency Fund, he declared.
In addition, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta stated that the National Cathedral project is entirely state-owned and rejected the title “President’s Cathedral” to describe it.
These were said by the Finance Minister during his testimony to the Parliamentary Committee looking into the motion for censure on Friday, November 18.
He was reacting to the second justification in the censure motion, which is being used to try to get the House to vote to censure him.
Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution is flagrantly violated by unconstitutional withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund purportedly for the building of the President’s Cathedral, according to Ground 2.
The Motion’s proponents are relying on seven grounds, however the Committee later knocked out two of them for legal and other reasons.
He declared, “The National Cathedral is 100% State-owned and is not the President’s Cathedral, as the Proponents have claimed.”
In fact, on January 6, 2022, the Attorney General published an opinion stating that the National Cathedral is a state-owned enterprise limited by guarantee that is governed by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board.
The Contingency Fund and the Contingency Vote, according to Mr. Ofori-Atta, have been mixed together by supporters of the Vote of Censure Motion.
He said that, as was customary prior to his tenure, expenses related to the National Cathedral were paid out of the Contingency Vote under the “Other Government Obligations” vote.
He clarified that the Contingency Fund that the supporters are referring to is protected under article 177 of the Constitution from 1992 and consists of funds that have been approved by the Finance Committee of the Parliament as well as advances.
He said that the Contingency Vote, which is approved by the Finance Committee and included in the yearly Appropriations Acts ratified by Parliament, is a line under the “Other Government Obligations” vote.
As finance minister, he stated that he is well aware of the approval processes for using the contingency fund and that he has not violated any of its requirements.
He claimed that over the years, the National Budget Statements and Economic Policies submitted to Parliament have been used to publicly communicate the policy direction and updates on the National Cathedral.
He continued by saying that Parliament and the country have received regular briefings on the status of the National Cathedral’s construction.
Mr. Ofori-Atta emphasized that all payments made for the National Cathedral were legitimate and came from the Contingency Vote, not the Contingency Fund, in spite of what had been claimed.
Source: newsthemegh.com