The recent blockage of an GHS80-million budget allocated to the construction of the National Cathedral in the 2023 budget will not stop the project from continuing, a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana, Dr Joyce Aryee, has said.

The trade, industry and tourism committee of parliament rejected the budget with the minority side of the committee voting against it in an 11:10 majority decision.

A member of the committee, Mr Yussif Sulemana, told journalists on Tuesday, 20 December 2022: “I can tell you on authority that at the end of the day, we had to vote and after the vote, the minority carried the day. We have voted against it and we are saying that this is not the time for us to be spending that huge sum of money on building a cathedral.”

The Bole-Bamboi MP said: “Apart from that, we were told at the committee[-level] that they had already spent GHS339 million and when we asked them to give us evidence of how the money was spent, it was a challenge.”

Again, he noted, “we were told that they have moved the cathedral from wherever it was to the ministry of tourism. And the question I put to them was that that organisation that is handling this cathedral, the secretariat, is it under the ministry of tourism?

“If it’s not under the ministry of tourism, then it means that you want to use the ministry as a conduit to send the money wherever you want to send it and we, the minority, will not accept it.”

Speaking on the rejection of the budget, Dr Aryee said it will not bring the project to a halt because the GH¢80 million is “not the entire money that is needed to construct and complete the edifice.”

She told Accra-based Joy FM: “It does not mean the project cannot go on because I know you are going to bring your money and I will bring mine and everybody that we will approach and is willing will bring theirs.”

She added: “Really, those who are willing are the people making the money available for the construction. I think we should all keep calm and not be disturbed.”

“People have said that there has not been transparency, but every year in the budget there has been some seed money not taken from what I understand from the Contingency Fund, but I heard there’s something called Contingency Vote,” she said.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, a few weeks ago, said he did not breach the law when he drew funds from the contingency vote to sponsor the construction of the national cathedral.

He told the ad hoc committee hearing seven allegations against him for which the minority caucus filed a censure motion: "National cathedral is 100 per cent owned by the state and is not the president’s cathedral as described by the proponents."

"Expenditures in respect of the national cathedral were made from the contingency vote under the other government obligations vault as has been the practice before my tenure," Mr Ofori-Atta explained. 

“I have several copies of payments from the contingency vote dating back to 2015 to share," he added. 

“Honourable co-chairs, as finance minister, I am fully aware of the approval procedures for use of the contingency funds and I have not breached its requirements,” he added on Friday, 18 November 2022.

Below is Mr Ofori-Atta’s full response in connection with the national cathedral funding:

The ground of the Proponents claiming that there has been “Unconstitutional withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund in blatant contravention of Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution supposedly for the construction of the President’s Cathedral,” I submit as follows: 

Hon. Co-Chairs, let me first submit, that I am uncomfortable about the formulation of this ground. It presupposes that Parliament is assuming the jurisdiction to enforce and/interpret a provision of the Constitution, against the combined effect of articles 2(1) and 130(1), which grants the sole and exclusive power to the Supreme Court. Nonetheless, I say with both humility and confidence that I have not breached the Constitution in making payments to support the construction of the National Cathedral of Ghana.

Hon. Co-Chairs, three days ago, when the Proponents were here, they alleged that I had made payments from the Contingency Fund to support the National Cathedral. I want to state that this is just not true. Let me be categorical. I have taken no money from the Contingency Fund to make payments for the National Cathedral.

It appears the proponents have confused the Contingency Fund with the Contingency Vote. Let me explain. There is a difference between Contingency Fund and Contingency Vote.

The Contingency Fund, the Proponents refer to, is what is covered under the Constitution, specifically under article 177. This constitutes money voted by Parliament and advances from this must be authorised by the Parliamentary Finance Committee. The Contingency Vote, on the other hand, is a line under the “Other Government Obligations” vote which is approved by the Finance Committee and passed as part of the annual Appropriation Acts passed by Parliament.

Hon. Co-Chairs, in preparing the Annual Budgets, the practice is that provision is made for indicative expenditures that have not been fully costed at the time of the Budget presentation. Provisions are made in the Contingency Vote to cater for such expenditures. For example, in 2014, there was no specific allocation in the 2014 budget for Ghana’s participation in the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The Cabinet of President John Mahama, in March 2014, at the time, approved some $9.622 million for that tournament, including that amount which was flown to Brazil in a private jet for the players. A more current example is Ghana’s participation in Qatar. The Black Stars qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, way after the 2022 budget, presented on 16 November 2021, was approved by Parliament. No specific amount was budgeted for it but through the Contingency Vote, we have been able to provide funds legitimately for the team to participate in the competition.

Expenditures in respect of the National Cathedral were made from the Contingency Vote under the “Other Government Obligations” vote as has been the practice before my tenure (I have copies of several payments from the Contingency Vote dating back to 2015 to share). Hon. Co-Chairs, as Finance Minister, I am fully aware of the approval procedures for use of the Contingency Fund and have not breached its requirement.

The National Cathedral is 100% owned by the State and is not the President’s Cathedral as described by the Proponents. Indeed, the Attorney General issued an opinion on 6th January 2022, that the National Cathedral is a state-owned company limited by guarantee, under the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board.

Hon. Co-Chairs, the policy direction and updates on the National Cathedral have been publicly presented over the years through the National Budget Statement and Economic Policy presented to Parliament.

In paragraph 156 of my Budget Speech on the 2019 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, I announced on the floor of Parliament, Government’s vision for the National Cathedral as well as the commitment to facilitate the construction by providing the land, the Secretariat, and seed money. This subject was part of the policy approval of the Budget after extensive debate.

Subsequently, regular updates on the progress of the construction of the National Cathedral have been provided to Parliament and the nation. These include:

2020 Budget Statement and Economic Policy – Paragraph 385: which announced the establishment of the Board of Trustees and Secretariat for the Cathedral.

Mid-Year Review of the 2020 Budget Statement – Paragraph 279: which provided an update on the ground-breaking ceremony held on 5th March 2020 to mark the formal commencement of the construction phase of the project.

2021 Budget Statement and Economic Policy – Paragraphs 1132 and 1134: which informed the House of the Letter of Intent (LoI) signed on 25th November 2020 between NCG Trustees and RIBADE JV (led by Rizzanni de Eccher with M Barbisotti & Sons and Desimone. And, the Appointment of Apostle Prof. Opoku-Onyinah as the new Chairman of the Board of Trustees on 8th February 2021.

Mid-Year Review of the 2021 Budget Statement – Paragraphs 354 and 355: which announced the expansion of the Cathedral project to include a Bible Museum (Bible Museum of Africa – BMOA) and Biblical Garden; as well as

the establishment of the 100-Cedis-a-Month “Ketewa Biara Nsua” Club, in line with the original plan to encourage as many donors as possible to contribute towards the establishment of this national monument.

In conclusion, Co-Chairs, all the payments made for the National Cathedral were lawfully done and from the Contingency Vote under the “Other Government Obligations” vote and not from the Contingency Fund as alleged by the Proponents.