The Minority in Parliament has called on the government to release the full value for money audit report allegedly conducted on the National Cathedral project.

This demand follows a revelation by the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Abena Osei Asare, that the government had conducted a value-for-money audit before disbursing funds for the stalled project.

During a parliamentary session, Minister Osei Asare disclosed that a total of 339 million Ghana cedis had been released for the National Cathedral project, which remains at the foundation level.

The funds include GHC225 million paid to the National Cathedral Secretariat and GHC113 million paid directly to the project consultant.

"There was a value-for-money audit done on the project in 2021. Also, a statutory audit of the National Cathedral of Ghana accounts by Deloitte Ghana was started in July 2023 and is ongoing. Auditors had concluded the audit of the 18-month account ended on December 31, 2020. Meanwhile, preparations are in place for the auditors to complete the remaining accounts for the periods ending December 31, 2021, 2022, and 2023," explained Osei Asare.

In response, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu, demanded the release of the audit report. Mr Ablakwa asserted that the full report must be made available to Parliament if it indeed exists.

"All these claims that they have a value for money report, if that report exists, what you do is that you bring that report to the House so that we can peruse the document. It wasn't brought to us. We are demanding those documents," stated Ablakwa.

He further called for a comprehensive parliamentary probe into the project, citing numerous issues that have arisen since its inception.

"This National Cathedral project has opened a can of worms from inflation pricing, procurement breaches, constitutional violations, conflict of interest, double identity, and demolition of properties; it is a whole mess that one parliamentary question cannot resolve. What we need is a full-scale parliamentary inquiry to go into the entire project," he stressed.

Since the commencement of the National Cathedral project in 2020, it has been mired in controversy and scandal, particularly highlighted by the opposition National Democratic Congress.

The project has sparked widespread debate, with many questioning its necessity and timing, as well as criticizing the lack of transparency in the management of the allocated funds.