The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has called on the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute the members of the National Cathedral Board of Trustees.
This call was made in an investigative report by the commission on a petition submitted by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The MP, in his petition, asked CHRAJ to investigate issues of corruption and procurement breaches he had raised against the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral.
The commission found significant violations of Ghana’s procurement laws against the Board of Trustees, especially in the award of the building contract to Ribade Company Ltd.
The report declared the contract “void ab initio” because it did not adhere to the Procurement Act’s necessary clauses (Act 663, as amended by Act 914).
Members of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral:
Although President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo entrusted the building of the National Cathedral of Ghana to 13 clergy, only eight remain on the project now.
The founder of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), Dr Mensah Otabil, who was a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, walked away from the project.
The former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Rev. Professor Cephas Omenyo, also resigned from the Board of Trustees due to ill health.
Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, the founder and presiding bishop of the United Denominations Originating from the Lighthouse Group of Churches, left his role as a member of the Board of Trustees, citing the circumstances around which he was omitted in the registration process of the trustees, even though his image had been used on the project website as a Board of Trustees member.
The presiding Archbishop and General Overseer of the Action Chapel International (ACI) Ministry, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, and President of the Eastwood Anaba Ministries, Eastwood Anaba, have also resigned as members of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral.
Here are the 8 clerics left on the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral:
1. Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah, former Chairman of the Church of Pentecost – Chairperson
2. Archbishop Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop, Cape Coast – Vice Chairman
3. Most Rev. Bishop Justice Ofei Akrofi, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus – Member
4. Rt. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey, former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church – Member
5. Most Rev. T. K. Awotwi Pratt, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church – Member
6. Rev. Dr Joyce Aryee, Executive Director, Salt and Light Ministries – Member
7. Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng, Founder of Power Chapel Worldwide – Member/Secretary
8. Rev. Dr Frimpong Manso, General Superintendent, Assemblies of God – Member
At the National Cathedral Secretariat, there is an appointed Executive Director known as Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah with two representatives from the United States (US).
BAI/AE
