Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has shed light on what he claims to be financial mismanagement regarding the National Cathedral project.
According to Ablakwa, several individuals, including Ghanaian-British Architect Sir David Frank Adjaye, CEO of Nehemiah Group Cary Summers, and Reverend Kusi Boateng, have purportedly received significant sums of money from the project’s funds for doing little to no work.
The politician stated that Sir David Frank Adjaye is not deserving of the $19.6 million he received for “just designing” the structure of which he even left out a restaurant structure, and when he was asked to include the crucial component, he charged additional fees.
“When you look at the people who have taken money and done little, look at David Adjaye, He alone received $19.6 million, when you look at the breakdown, after he designed the structure he left out a restaurant area.
“So he was asked to add a restaurant and for just designing the restaurant he charged an amount of $5.7 million for just the design,” he disclosed this while speaking to Nana Yaa Brefo and Isaac Ekow JB on Onua FM, March 7.
Another name disclosed was that of the CEO of Nehemiah Group, Cary Summers, described as a consultant for the National Cathedral project, who is said to have received $6 million of taxpayers’ money. Despite promises to leverage his expertise to raise international funds for the project, Mr Ablakwa claims that Summers has not delivered on this front.
Further scrutiny by Ablakwa allegedly revealed that Summers is not CEO of Nehemiah Group in America.
“Cary Summers who is a supposed Consultant for the National Cathedral project has taxpayers money of $6 million. They said he was a consultant who would help us with contacts and expertise that would help us raise funds internationally for the project.
“Up to now Cary Summers has not introduced us to anyone capable of helping us finance the project but he has in his possession $6 million belonging to taxpayers and Ghanaians. I went to America to find out he wasn’t the CEO of Nehemiah Group in America.
“I discovered he’s merely a coffee brewer in a ramshackle warehouse. He has taken taxpayers’ money to America.
Additionally, Rev Kusi Boateng, according to Ablakwa, received GH₵ 2.6 million from the project’s funds under the guise of contractor mobilization. However, his investigations revealed that Boateng is not a contractor but rather a director of JNS Talents Limited under the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
The politician asserts that Boateng attempted to obscure his identity to avoid being found out for conflict of interest, for paying his own company GH¢2.6 million for no work done, using a secondary identity.
Despite legal actions taken by Boateng against Ablakwa’s claims, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) reportedly validated Ablakwa’s findings, dismissing Boateng’s claims.
“This led me to investigate the matter and I discovered that his company JNS Talents Limited he is there as a director with a different name, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi
“It was easy for him to create the impression that it wasn’t him and there was no conflict of interest., until I unraveled what was going on that he was the same person with a different identity for that name, different mother, different date of birth, different diplomatic passport and all of that.
“He took me to court for my findings and the human rights courts has also established that the findings from my investigation is accurate and Rev Kusi has no claim in law and his claims were dismissed, our GH¢2.6 million is with him,” the politician said.