Reverend Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, a former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, has urged the government to reconsider its role in the construction of the National Cathedral of Ghana.
He emphasized the importance of the Christian faithful and churched contributing meaningfully to such a significant religious project instead of the current situation where the state is pumping public funds into the project.
Speaking in an interview with Citi News on October 19, 2023, Rev. Opuni-Frimpong highlighted that there has been a significant decline in the initial fervor that surrounded the project.
"I was in the office as General Secretary at the very beginning of the National Cathedral. At the time, the former presiding bishop of the Methodist Church, Reverend Samuel Asante Antwi, was the chairman of the Board of the National Cathedral.
“He explained to us that we, the churches in Ghana, were going to build the Cathedral, not the government. The government was only going to facilitate the process and provide seed money. We were happy about this idea,” citinewsroom.com quoted him to have said.
“We thought we were having an opportunity to work together as Christians to achieve something,” he added.
Rev. Opuni-Frimpong continued: “However, when Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa started a series of disclosures, it became very clear that it was the government that was building the Cathedral.
“My plea is that the government must allow the churches to build the Cathedral. We should not offer to God a Cathedral that cost us nothing,” he added.
In recent news around the project, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams and Rev. Eastwood Anaba resigned from the Board of Trustees overseeing the project.
The two, in January 2023, called for an immediate suspension of the construction pending an audit of the project.
In a statement signed by both Archbishop Duncan-Williams and Reverend Anaba, they explained that the decision to resign was due to the failure of the government to appoint an independent accounting firm to audit all public funds contributed to the National Cathedral.
“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.”
AM/SARA
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Reverend Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong