The discussions encompassing the Public House of God project don’t appear to be finishing at any point in the near future.
This is on the grounds that more claims are being made against the controllers of the undertaking.
The furthest down the line individual to add to these issues is the organizer and directing Diocesan of the Beacon Gathering of Holy places, Cleric Dag Heward-Plants.
As per the regarded minister, despite the fact that he was a legal administrator and gone to all gatherings until his renunciation, he was not involved nor conscious of conversations on the monetary and specialized issues concerning the undertaking.
Among different issues of worry to him, the carefully prepared Book of scriptures instructor said significant issues and choices were taken by people other than the Leading body of Legal administrators.
The seasoned Bible scholar in his resignation letter issued in August 2022, and sighted by Citi FM, added that all of his suggestions and contributions were “trivialised and set aside.”
According to him, these reasons compelled him to resign from the board even 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 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 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.