Two respected clergymen who are also trustees on the contentious National Cathedral project have demanded that it be suspended immediately and subjected to an audit.
The two, Reverend Eastwood Anaba and Archbishop Duncan Williams, claim that the controversy surrounding the project is the basis for their request.
They claim that the suspension will open the door for the Ghanaian people to receive openness and accountability.
They demanded an independent audit of the project’s expenses in a memo they addressed to the board of trustees on Monday, January 23, which was obtained by MyJoyOnline.com.
The two revered preachers emphasized the need for a nationally recognized auditor.
“That 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, nationally recognised accounting firm to audit all public funds contributed to and spent by the National Cathedral.
“Auditors will also audit the overall cost of the project. This appointment of an auditor shall take place before the deferment of activities of the Board of Trustees,” excerpts of the memo said.
Meanwhile, the two Bible scholars also said the project should only continue until the economic conditions in the country improve.
“That current activities advancing the construction of Ghana’s National Cathedral shall be deferred until the atmospherics in Ghana are improved and the audit of the Cathedral account is done,” excerpts of the memo added.
Since President Akufo-Addo originally announced the project, the National Cathedral Project has been one of the most divisive national issues.
There have been worries regarding the project’s relevancy in light of the nation’s economic crisis in addition to the accountability issues that the Minority in Parliament has constantly brought up.
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Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, the creator of the LightHouse Chapel International, resigned from the Board of Trustees of the Cathedral in August 2022 as a result of the myriad problems.
By doing this, the preacher abstained from giving a cause for the departure, leaving the general people to make up their own theories and conjectures.
The Bishop’s reasons for leaving the Board have been made public, nevertheless, five months after he resigned.
The seasoned Bible instructor stated in his resignation letter, which appears to have recently leaked, that his departure was motivated by his unresolved worries regarding the National Cathedral’s price tag and other relevant issues.
The Bishop addressed the aforementioned letter to the National Cathedral’s chairman of the board of trustees.
“I feel that the treatment of the issues I have raised in my several letters has been unfortunate. My letters have been ignored in the past; not attended to for years, and at best addressed flippantly”, Dag Heward-Mills said.
“You may recall I have spoken passionately and written extensively about the costs, the design, the location, the fundraising, the mobilization of the churches, and the role of the trustees.
“These, if heeded, would have made our project more achievable. Generally speaking, my inputs, my opinions, and my letters have been trivialized and set aside”, portions of the letter further disclosed.
Source: Myjoyonline
