Deloitte & Touche, an international audit and financial consultancy firm, is conducting an independent audit of the National Cathedral Project and is expected to present its final report to the President by the end of this month.
President John Dramani Mahama announced this during his televised address on Wednesday night on the successes chalked by his government within 120 days in office.
The President highlighted a number of policy interventions rolled out by the Government over the period.
The National Cathedral project started by the previous New Patriotic Party- led Government has been bedeviled with controversy and criticism primarily due to concerns about its high cost.
It is reported that the previous administration had spent US$58 million of public funds on the project by 2022 during a time of economic hardship.
Some of the critics argued that the project was a misallocation of national resources, particularly as the nation was grappling with economic challenges.
President Mahama also indicated that the Minister of Finance had launched an inquiry into the collapse of indigenous banks and financial institutions.
The Ministry of Energy and Green Transition is also investigating the PDS scandal, the President stated.
In March 2019, Ghana was on the verge of receiving crucial funding of some $190 million aimed at the long-term sustainability of related infrastructure investments and financial recovery of the energy sector as part of a second tranche of the MMC power contract.
However, owing to a botched 20-year concession agreement with Ghana’s Power Distribution Services (PDS), where PDS was to assume the operation and management of the staff and assets of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the US Government halted the transfer of the funds, stating that private sector participation was a central reform under MCC’s Ghana Power Compact.
He assured of his government’s determination to unravel culprits involved in corrupt dealings and prosecute them in accordance with the laws of the country.
The President stated that a number of officials had been invited and questioned regarding their roles in the 13th All African Games.
The Attorney-General had filed 11 charges against a former National Signals Bureaux Director-General and others for various offences, the President added.
He announced that charges would soon be filed on the Accra SkyTrain and the National Service Scheme ghost names scandals as part of the government’s anti-corruption crusade on looting of state resources.
The President expressed commitment to ensuring that his appointees served with integrity; accountability and transparency, hence, the unveiling of the Code of Conduct to ensure the highest ethical standards.
Source | GNA
