Professor Smart Sarpong has shared his thoughts about the National Cathedral which the government is constructing in fulfilment of President Akufo-Addo’s pledge to God.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made a pledge before the 2016 election to build a National Cathedral if he won the election but the Cathedral has turned into a subject of controversy.
Early this year, some members of the Board of Trustees on the Cathedral bowed out of the project.
Dr. Mensa Otabil, the General Overseer of International Central Gospel Church, and Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, Founder and leader of the Lighthouse Chapel International, were among those who stepped aside as they raised concerns over the project.
In latest development, the Founder and General Overseer of the United Denominations of Action Chapel Churches Worldwide, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, and the President of the Eastwood Anaba Ministries, Rev. Eastwood Anaba, have also both resigned from their positions on the Board of Trustees.
They cited in a letter that their conscience and faith could not permit them to remain on the Board.
Letter of Resignation
“Further to the National Cathedral in January 2023 as Trustees of the Board of Trustees we submitted a draft Resolution to the said Board resolving that current activities advancing the construction of Ghana’s National Cathedral be deferred until the findings of an audit. This deferment included a cessation of activities of the Board of Trustees. Specifically, our Resolution stated, in the spirit and cause of transparency and accountability to the Ghanaian people the current Board of Trustees of The National Cathedral shall appoint an independent accounting firm to audit all public funds contributed to The National Cathedral. This appointment of an auditor shall take place before the deferment of the activities of the Board of Trustees.”
Despite our prayers, best hopes and wishes, unfortunately, a needed audit to help restore public confidence and trust in this consequential project has not been enacted to the best of our knowledge. Since January 2023, we awaited news, to no avail. regarding the finding of the audit We. therefore, regret that as a matter of conscience and faith, we hereby submit to you our resignation from the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral” portions of the letter said.
Wrong Assumption
Commenting on the project, Prof. Smart Sarpong, a Senior Research Fellow at the Kumasi Technical Institute, described the National Cathedral as a “wrong assumption”.
In his view, the government thought they would have an easy ride but is facing challenges with the Cathedral because the citizens are asking questions.
“It is a product of wrong assumption…It was a wrong assumption because the majority of Ghana is a Christian country, so I think the assumption was that when you want to build a Cathedral in Ghana, it is going to go without probity. It was going to go without accountability. It was going to go without due diligence and then very important, it was going to go without public scrutiny. I think this is where the challenge is,” he told Nana Yaw Kesseh on Peace FM’s morning show “Kokrokoo”.
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Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi//Ghana
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