It Is Not The President’s Cathedral, It’s 100% State-owned – Ofori-Atta Schools Minority

Ken Ofori Atta, the Finance Minister, has denied the Minority’s claim that he broke the constitution and took money out of the contingency fund in an illegal way.

The Minority says that the Minister took money out of the Consolidated Fund without permission to build “the President’s Cathedral.”

They say that this goes against Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution, which says that no money can be taken out of the Consolidated Fund unless it has been approved by “an Appropriation Act; or by a supplementary estimate approved by resolution of Parliament passed for the purpose; or by an Act of Parliament enacted under article 179 of this Constitution.”

Ken Ofori Atta says it isn’t true, though.

Combined Fund or Emergency Vault

He told the people who wanted to censure him and get rid of him that they shouldn’t mix up the National Cathedral project’s funding for the Contingency Vault and the Contingency Fund (Consolidated Fund).

The Finance Minister said that the money for the cathedral came from the Contingency Vault, not the Consolidated Fund, as the Minority says. He also said that the Consolidated Fund and the Contingency Vault are two different things that should not be mixed up.

In front of the ad-hoc committee of Parliament that is looking into the Minority’s motion of censure against him, he said that he is “fully aware” of the process for getting money from the Consolidated Fund and that he has “not broken its requirement.”

“By putting money toward building the national cathedral, I haven’t broken the constitution. I haven’t used any of the money in the “just in case” fund to pay for the national cathedral. It looks like the backers are mixing up the Consolidated Fund and the contingency vault.

“All payments made to the national cathedral were legal and came from the contingency vault, not the Consolidated Fund…

“I have served my country honestly and with honor,” he said.

Cathedral of the President

The Minority called the National Cathedral “the President’s Cathedral,” but he didn’t agree with that.

He said, “It is not the president’s cathedral. The state owns it in its entirety.”

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