The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, has criticised expenditure on the National Cathedral, arguing that the previous government could have used funds committed to the project to complete some Agenda 111 hospital projects.

According to the Attorney General, Bolga East has an uncompleted Agenda 111 hospital, and he has been pushing the Minister of Health to ensure that the facility is completed.

AG to determine next steps after National Cathedral forensic audit

He said he recently compelled the Health Minister to disclose the list of districts included in the government's programme to complete outstanding Agenda 111 projects.

“...I have been on the neck of my colleague, the Health Minister, to ensure that it is completed. Today, I have to compel him by the powers vested in me as Attorney General of the Republic to disclose to me the list of districts that have been included in the Agenda 111 completion project programme and when he asked his people to pull it up there, Bolga East, Zuarungu was listed on it," he noted.

He argued that the erstwhile Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led administration should have completed the critical healthcare infrastructure rather than committing further resources to the National Cathedral.

“Mr President, it is better to complete Agenda 111 than to spend money on a National Cathedral,” he said.

Dr Ayine disclosed that he received a report prepared by audit and consulting firm PwC on the National Cathedral and its findings had reinforced his concerns about the resources committed to the project.

“The money that was spent on the National Cathedral, from the report of PwC that was presented to me just last Friday, could have been used to complete the district hospital,” he said.

The Attorney General also questioned the manner in which the National Cathedral project was undertaken, stressing that the construction of a religious facility should have been approached differently.

“You don't build a house of God in the manner in which they went about it,” he said.

JKB/VPO

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