Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Godfred Yeboah Dame
The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, is calling bluff of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, to sue him over his conflict of interest claims.
He further asked the people who are worried and begging on his behalf to stop since he is ready for any lawsuit from the Attorney-General.
Mr. Dame denied an allegation of conflict of interest made against him by Mr. Ablakwa and further demanded a retraction and an apology from the MP.
The Attorney-General served notice that failure on the part of the lawmaker to comply with his demand will see him seeking legal redress.
However, responding to the demand of the Attorney-General on Friday, June 24, 2022 edition of Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana, Mr Ablakwa scoffed at the threat of legal suit, emphasizing that some members of the current government will go to jail for issues related to the construction.
He therefore asked people who have expressed concerns for him after the minister’s threat to stop begging on his behalf.
The vociferous MP said “I dare him to sue me. By the time we’ll be done with this National Cathedral thing, some people will be in jail. No one should apologize for me.”
In a Facebook post made on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who has raised several issues with the construction of a National Cathedral by the government, wrote, “It is quite revealing to observe that when the National Cathedral was incorporated on July 18, 2019; the then Deputy Attorney General, Godfred Dame was registered as Secretary.
“During the same period, he served on the board of the Public Procurement Authority which approved David Adjaye’s irregular sole sourcing contract. A clear conflict of interest situation, particularly from additional evidence available to us,” he added.
But in a rejoinder to the MP’s statement, Godred Dame described the allegations as false and dishonest, debunking the allegations of conflict of interest.
Godfred Dame said, among other things, that there was no company called the National Cathedral of Ghana in existence at the time the PPA board he served on approved the contract.
The minister thus demanded a retraction and apology from the Member of Parliament, failure of which he threatened to sue.
By Vincent Kubi