Akufo-Addo picked architect, land for National Cathedral before appointing trustees – Opoku Onyinah

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah, has revealed that President Nana Akufo-Addo selected the architect and site for the project before the selection of the Board of Trustees.

“The Architect and the Land—the site for the National Cathedral— had already been selected by the President before the appointment of the Trustees by the President. All Trustees were aware of this,” Apostle Opoku Onyinah said in a statement responding to claims by the founder of the Lighthouse Chapel International, Dag Heward-Mills in his resignation letter.

The statement added that “the selection of the contractors — RIBADE — for the project, was through a rigorous international procurement process supervised by the Lead consultant, whose contract included the selection of a contractor for approval by the Board of Trustees. The costing for the project and the selection of the contractors for the project were led by the Project’s Lead Consultants, as well as a technical committee officially commissioned by the Board of Trustees, including seasoned Ghanaian professionals in the building and construction industry.

The statement comes days after Bishop Heward-Mills resigned alleging that the leadership of the National Cathedral ignored concerns he raised in several letters he wrote to them concerning the costs, the design, the location, the fundraising, the mobilization of the churches, and the role of the trustees.

He also thought the role of the state and the church in the project was unclear.

“This lack of clarity is robbing our vision of the validity it needs. Over and over, I have asked that we address this appropriately and urgently because there are many dire implications to the trustees and the individuals involved in this project.”

But according to Apostle Opoku Onyinah, no one member of the Board of Trustees can have his preferences, methods, or approaches accepted by other members of the board.

“One of the key strengths of the National Cathedral Project is the Board of Trustees, made up of some of the key, pioneering leaders of the church in Ghana, and whose work is on contributing to improved inter-church relations in the country. These church leaders, the Board of Trustees, have pioneered and/or lead vibrant churches with global reach and impact.

“These churches and their leaders not only have deep-seated theological differences, but also different understandings and approaches to the development of the National Cathedral. The challenge of such a group is that individual leaders, with a history of implementing their own organizational /denominational programs and vision, have to be part of a collective decision-making process where their preferences might not always prevail. Specifically, this means that no one leader can have all their preferences, methods, and approaches accepted. In this changed and unfamiliar context, some would prefer to leave the Trusteeship.”