Members of Parliament on the Trade, Industry and Tourism Committee have rejected an Gh¢80 million budget for the construction of the controversial National Cathedral of Ghana.
This comes after minority members on the committee who were more than their counter parts from the majority caucus voted “No” to the budget allocation.
The allocation for the project was contained in the Appropriations Bill of the 2023 fiscal policy. However, the minority won by 11 votes against 10 from the majority caucus.
According to Ranking Member on the Committee Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, officials of the Ministry failed to convince them about the allocation and also account for the over GH¢300 million already spent on the project.
He said officials of the Ministry of Finance could also not give ample reason for the allocation.
The Minority members on the Committee, therefore, called for voting to decide the matter through which the minority successfully rejected the budget allocation for the cathedral.
Nonetheless, the other allocations of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture were approved.
“We asked for a vote and I think today God was on the people of Ghana’s side. We voted and we were in the majority.”
The Member of Parliament for Ellembelle Constituency, however, expressed concerns that the Majority may use their numbers to overturn this decision when it gets to the plenary.
For now, he assured, Ghanaians should be content that no more funds will be pumped into the controversial project from the government coffers.
Credit: 3 news