The Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has demanded that North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, retracts and apologizes for saying he has been Secretary to the National Cathedral in 2019 since its incorporation.
The A-G in a release issued on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, said should Mr Ablakwa fail to retract and apologise for the allegation, “I may institute legal action against him.”
This comes after Mr Ablakwa alleged on his social media page that Mr Dame was registered as company secretary for the National Cathedral company during the same period he served on the Public Procumbent Board that approved a sole source contract of designing the edifice to Architectural firm, Adjaye and Associates.
It is quite revealing to observe that when the National Cathedral was incorporated on 18th July, 2019; the then Deputy AG, Godfred Dame was registered as Secretary. During the same period, he served on the board of the PPA which approved Adjaye’s irregular sole sourcing contract. pic.twitter.com/EVcLjkUEZv
— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) June 21, 2022
Reacting to the post, Mr Dame dismissed the claims of breaching ‘conflict of interest’ rules in processes leading to the incorporation of the National Cathedral of Ghana as a private company.
According to the Attorney-General, the allegation against him “is utterly false.”
He clarified that the “Approval of an application to single-source Messrs. Sir David Adjaye & Associates was granted by the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) on 13th December 2018. “
According to him, “the National Cathedral of Ghana was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee (non-profit making entity) on 18th July 2019.”
“Quite clearly, at the time of the approval by PPA (on whose governing board I served in my former capacity as Deputy Attorney-General), no company known as the National Cathedral of Ghana had been formed for me to be Secretary of, or have any purported interest in to declare. I could not have had a so-called interest in a non-existent company. If Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa had cared to read or examine the relevant documents well, as he should have, this plain fact would not have been lost on him,” he explained.
He said,” for the avoidance of doubt, I state that my role as Secretary (not a director or a member) to a not-for-profit company owned by the State does not present me with any personal interest which conflicts with the performance of my functions as a Minister.”
“The record reflects the fact that even in respect of companies limited by liability (profit-making entities), the State regularly appoints public officers, including Ministers, to serve as members of the board of directors to protect the public interest where the State is a shareholder,” he stressed.