Cathedral Secretariat claims the project is a state-owned company, Ablakwa calls on Christians to fast and pray for Akufo-Addo. Ghanaians ask government to prioritize other needs over building of Cathedral.
Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has reacted to claims by the National Cathedral Secretariat that the project is registered as a state-owned company.
In a June 20 post on his Facebook page, the MP said incorporated documents of the company [National Cathedral] available to him suggested that it was registered as a private entity. On the back of the latest information, the ranking member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has tasked Christians to embark on 40-day fasting and prayer to purge President Nana Akufo-Addo of what he describes as a “cathedral of lies.”
“Another troubling falsehood we have detected is that even though the June 17 press release claims that the National Cathedral of Ghana is a “state-owned company” and thus a “public and not a private” entity, the incorporation documents in our possession reveals rather curiously that the National Cathedral of Ghana is registered as PRIVATE (see evidence attached). “The list of falsehoods, misrepresentations, opacity, lawlessness and blatant corruption associated with this cathedral project is now a bottomless pit.
“Christians in Ghana may have to declare a 40-day intense fasting and prayer to purge and rescue Akufo-Addo’s drowning cathedral of lies,” Mr. Ablakwa wrote on his Facebook wall. It will be recalled that the National Cathedral Secretariat issued a statement on June 17, portions of which addressed issues regarding whether or not the Cathedral was a public or private entity. “In his first official announcement on the project on March 6, 2017, the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo underscored the nature of the project as a national cathedral for interdenominational worship services for the nation.
“Subsequent elaborations led to three main reasons as the rationale for the projects, namely gesture of thanksgiving, symbol of the Christian presence and contributions to the nation and a personal pledge to God. “Of these three reasons, the personal pledge came to be associated with the Cathedral as a ‘private’ project that needed to be developed without state support,” the statement signed by National Cathedral Secretariat Executive Director, Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, read.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the National Cathedral is a national monument and thus a public, not private project. Legally, the National Cathedral of Ghana is a state-owned company limited by guarantee and was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179) on July 18, 2019. “We hope this brings to a closure the seemingly vexatious issue of whether the National Cathedral is a private or public initiative. The National Cathedral is a National Monument and Asset and not a Private project. It is, however, being developed in partnership between the state and the church,” it added.
Read the document as provided by
