The National Cathedral of Ghana Secretariat has come forward to challenge the recent allegations made by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu, regarding identity theft within the National Cathedral Foundation. The Secretariat has vehemently denied the accusations, branding them as distortions and misinformation.
Ablakwa’s claims were made in his latest release titled ‘National Cathedral Scandals – America Edition,’ where he accused the Secretariat of engaging in identity theft during the registration process of the National Cathedral Foundation in the United States.
In response to these allegations, the Secretariat issued a statement on Thursday, May 4, 2023, stating that Ablakwa’s findings were nothing more than a distortion of facts. They highlighted that the MP deliberately manipulated information from the registration documents to support his claims.
“In arriving at this so-called identity theft, the MP distorts information on the registration documents by taking the Taxpayer ID number: 86-3859197 (Appendix 1) and disingenuously changes it to the social security number, SSN: 863-85-9197 belonging to a deceased named, Jose Salgado (Appendix 2). He then proceeds to accuse the National Cathedral of using the ‘stolen’ identity of the deceased to register,” clarified the Secretariat.
The Secretariat further emphasized the distinction between the Taxpayer ID number and the Social Security number, asserting that they are separate identifiers issued for different purposes. They highlighted that Ablakwa’s intentional misrepresentation of these numbers led to his baseless accusations of identity theft against the National Cathedral.
This isn’t the first time Ablakwa has made allegations against the National Cathedral project. The Secretariat described his modus operandi as a series of distortions, intended to mislead the public and tarnish the reputation of the project.
“Our consistent argument has been that the National Cathedral Project has been implemented with integrity, and with no criminality. As with the recklessly-populist and reputationally-damaging accusations of the McCarthy era in the USA, the misinformation and distortions on the National Cathedral project will – ultimately – unravel!” stated the Secretariat, referring to the historical period known for unfounded allegations and distortions.
The Secretariat concluded their response by suggesting that Ablakwa’s allegations of identity theft were just the beginning of his campaign against the National Cathedral project. They expressed confidence that the truth would prevail, and that the project’s integrity would withstand scrutiny.
Read below the full statement by the Secretariat:
