Member of Parliament for Navrongo Central, Joseph Kofi Adda, says he is justified in donating 30,000 cedis of his MPs common fund towards the completion of a Catholic Church in his constituency.

The donation was in fulfillment of a pledge the MP he made to the Church in December 2017, to support the completion of the new building.

The MP was criticised for his spending the taxpayer’s money on a church building for the Our Lady of Seven Sorrow Minor Basilica in Navrongo; a church he is a member of.

Responding to the criticisms, Mr. Adda said there was nothing wrong with his act, arguing that a lot of people both within and outside Navrongo have benefited from the Church whose contribution to the development of the Northern Region cannot be overlooked.

“There is a fundraising going on, people are asking for support, some are giving GHC1, 5, 10, 100 whatever. The church requires it so I gave it to them.

“We have all benefited, in Navrongo, the whole town, the whole constituency has benefited from that Church over the years”, he told A1 radio in Bolgatanga.

To him, the GHC30,000 donated to the church is peanut considering that the Church has done so much in the region that if he had the means, he would have done more.

“That church has given to the northern part of Ghana more than what each of us can offer. This is peanuts as far as I’m concerned. If I had the means….I would have gone ahead and completed the whole construction for the Church," he said.


The donation is in fulfillment of a pledge the MP made to the church in December 2017, to support the completion of the new church building

Mr. Adda explained that the Church has been struggling for the past 45 years to put up a building that meets modern standard, hence he resolved to support the fundraising conducted to raise funds for the completion of the building.

“They have struggled to build a bigger, more modern building for mass services for years. In fact, since I was in secondary school; that should be about [19]72,[19]73, it’s been ongoing. We’ve been contributing year in year out, others have done contributions over the years”, he noted.

The MP however dismissed claims that the donation was used to redeem a pledge he made on behalf of his family. He said that is completely not true.

“Call whoever said that, tell them that they have lied to you because they are not being truthful, they are mischievous. Nothing of that sort”, he stated.

Mr. Adda also added that beyond the ?30,000 he donated to the church there are other things he is doing for the church.

“In addition to that, the Catholic Church [building], there is a toilet that is being constructed with attached borehole and there is also a big hall being constructed by the Christian’s Mothers Association of Navrongo who I have been supporting over the years.

“So yes I have authorized the release of 30,000 cedis to the Catholic Church as part of my contribution during the fundraising efforts organized by the parish and the cathedral”, he said.