The controversies surrounding the National Cathedral project do not seem to be ending anytime soon.
This is because more allegations are being made against the handlers of the project.
The latest person to add up to these issues is the founder and presiding Bishop of the Lighthouse Group of Churches, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills.
According to the respected preacher, though he was a trustee and attended all meetings until his resignation, he was not involved nor privy to the financial and technical issues concerning the project.
Amongst other issues of concern to him, the seasoned Bible teacher said weighty issues and decisions were taken by persons other than the Board of Trustees.
The seasoned Bible scholar in his resignation issued in August 2022, and sighted by Citi FM, Bishop added all of his suggestions and contributions were “trivialised and set aside.”
According to him, these reasons compelled him to resign from the board though he supports the building of the Cathedral.
“I have been a reachable and available trustee and attended every single meeting of trustees since the pandemic began, in person and by zoom, and the records will show that.
“If I say that I, as a trustee, do not know many of the financial and technical issues concerning the Cathedral, it means the discussions about the National Cathedral were held by some people outside the trustees’ meeting or perhaps in a forum that I was not present or invited to.
“On the one hand, the National Cathedral is said to be a Government of Ghana project, with the government taking financial decisions. Yet, on another hand, at meetings, it is implied that the trustees have taken or participated in taking some decisions.”
The National Cathedral Project has been one of the controversial public issues since the project was first commissioned.
Apart from the questions of accountability repeatedly raised by the Minority in Parliament, there have also been concerns about the relevance of the project, in the face of the country’s current economic crisis.
There have also been conflict of interest including possession of multiple identities among other suspicious dealings allegations against the Secretary of the National Cathedral Board of Trustees, Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng, who doubles as the founder of Power Chapel Worldwide.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the National Cathedral of Ghana, Dr Paul Opoku Mensah, has dismissed the allegations.
He explained that the said amount which was paid on September 8, 2021, was a loan from a board member whose name he fell short of mentioning.
He stressed that the amount was requested from the state in August 2021 to be used to pay the contractors but was delayed due to some processes at the Controller and Accountant General’s Department.
Hence, the board member offered to loan the money through his company, JNS Talent Centre Limited to be paid later without any interest.
According to him, there is no illegal payment as suggested by Okudzeto Ablakwa and there are documentations which have been submitted to Parliament to prove his explanations.
He advised the North Tongu MP and other critics of the project to seek clarification from the National Cathedral Secretariat before raising accusations.
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