Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has dismissed claims made by some Ghanaians, including broadcaster Paul Adom-Otchere, that architect Sir David Adjaye, who designed the National Cathedral of Ghana, has been awarded the contract to design a new Kigali Cathedral for Rwanda.

According to Mr Ablakwa, he received an official response from the Rwanda Development Board after inquiring about the cathedral, stating that no such contract exists.

Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa

In a tweet posted on Sunday, May 28, 2023, the MP referred to the assertions of Adjaye winning the contract as baseless fabrications.

“At 12:57pm on Friday May 26, 2023, I received formal response to my enquiry from Mr. Ben Gasore, Digital Media Consultant at the Rwanda Development Board stating unambiguously that the RDB has not awarded a contract to David Adjaye to design a Kigali Cathedral,” parts of the tweet read.

The tweet contained pictures of stories on the award of the contract and a picture of Paul Adom-Otchere when he was making the claim on his Good Evening Ghana programme on Thursday.

Adom-Otchere

The broadcaster claimed that the Rwandan President Paul Kagame has contracted Sir David Adjaye to build the cathedral using state funds.

“Paul Kagame has called Sir David that what is Ghana saying about you? ….and they are building a Cathedral in Rwanda.

“And they are building it with taxpayers’ money because Kagame has taken the decision that as he is getting ready to exit, he needs to put the cathedral inside the ground of Rwanda,” he said.