Sir David Adjaye is a UK based Ghanaian architect. Ever since Nana Addo became president, he has won the contract for architectural drawing of almost every major project in Ghana. Many didn’ t know about David Adjaye until the controversy surrounding the national cathedral emerged. MP for North Tongu Hon. Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa punlished a document that suggested that Sir David Adjaye was paid some 25 million dollars for consultancy service without it going through parliament.
A petition has since been sent to UK Serious Fraud Office to investigate the matter. A member of the legal team of the opposition NDC Lawyer Edudzi Tamaklo has published 11 different major contracts that were awarded to Sir David Adjaye through either single sourced or limited tender. He posted on his Facebook page that what was happening in Ghana will does not happen anywhere in the world. ” We are indeed lost.
Even in UK where the likes of Architectural Icons like Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid etc lived and practiced, every project is subject to a design competition. Now check this;
1. National Cathedral- David Adjaye
2. New Parliamentary Chamber- David Adjaye
3. International Cancer Centre for Children- David Adjaye
4. Marine Drive- David Adjaye
5. Trade Fair Centre Redesign- David Adjaye
6. GNPC HEADOFFICE Accra- David Adjaye
7. GNPC Takoradi Office Complex- David Adjaye
8. New Office Complex for Bank of Ghana (Cedi House 2)- David Adjaye
9. Airport City 2 site opposite Opeibea and Golden Tulip- David Adjaye
10. Okyenhene’s Palace- David Adjaye
11. New Railway Terminals- David Adjaye
Globally, the best way to get the best out of the best designers is to let them compete. But here, all you need to be a relative and that is it. What a shame to the president.”
What Edudzi Tamakloe forgot to mention are the 111 and 32 Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) centres. All these facilities were designed by Sir David Adjaye.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Pastor Mensah Otabil, one of the members of the board of trustees of the national cathedral has resigned. News of his resignation was announced by Hon. Ablakwa. Speaking on Joy FM the NDC MP also urgued that once the Cathedral was personal pledge of Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo to God, the state has no business funding it. The board has since confirmed the resignation of Mensah Otabil which it said happened in 2019.
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