The resignation of Doug Heward-Mills comes after Pastor Mensah Otabile, General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church, stepped down as a member of the Board of Trustees.
The man of God’s resignation letter addressed to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral was copied to about 14 people including President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo expressing disappointment with the building’s leadership for ignoring the concerns raised in several letters. Recently in June 2022 the Ghana Charismatic Bishops’ Conference wrote to him.
He said, “I feel that the treatment of the issues I have raised in several of my letters has been unfortunate. My letters have been neglected in the past; unaddressed for years and addressed at best.
“I have spoken passionately and written extensively about costs, design, location, fund-raising, furnishing of churches, and the role of trustees. These, if attended to, would have made our project more attainable. Generally speaking, my input, my opinions, and my letters have been trivialized and set aside.
He said he was surprised to find that he was not properly registered as a company director of the National Cathedral of Ghana, a company limited by guarantee even though the president had “verbally appointed him”.
The letter continued: “I do not believe this was a mistake but a deliberate omission by the board. Six years is a long time to rectify this failure to register me if it was indeed an administrative lapse.”
“So I have admitted for some time that I am not a trustee of the National Cathedral, but I have still tried to help the cathedral because I believe in the vision of the President and I am not required to be a legally registered trustee. Therefore, I refer to myself as a trustee in this letter because even though I am not privy to most of the important decisions of the board, I am referred to as such.”
He pointed out that the role of the state and the church in the national project was ambiguous.
“This lack of clarity is robbing our vision of the validity it needs. I have repeatedly asked that we address this appropriately and urgently as there are many serious implications for the trustees and individuals involved in this project,” he said.
Although he stepped down as part of the Board of Trustees, he said he was not against the building of the cathedral because he was a passionate believer in the project.
“…I do not want the media or the public to interpret my withdrawal as a sign of lack of support or faith in the national cathedral building,” he noted.
How the National Cathedral began
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo with senior members of the clergy laid the foundation stone for the National Cathedral on March 5, 2020 to commence construction.
A National Cathedral Secretariat has been set up to raise funds from individuals and the private sector for its construction, but work continues apace.
Apostle Prof. as the new Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral Project. The Ministry of the National Cathedral of Ghana is pleased to announce the appointment of Opoku Onina.
Announcing the Board of Trustees at the Presidency on Monday, February 8, 2021, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo expressed satisfaction that in Apostle Prof Opoku Onina, a suitable and worthy replacement has been found for the founding Trustee Chairman, Most Rev Samuel. Asante Antwi passed away on September 13, 2020.
Apostle Prof Opoku Onina in his acceptance speech expressed the appreciation of the trustees to the President for the privilege of serving as trustees and expressed his gratitude for the honor the President paid him. He expressed hope that he and the team would work together to ensure the completion of the National Cathedral.
Apostle Prof Opoku Onina brings to the Chairmanship of the Board of Trustees, distinguished service to the Church in Ghana, Africa and globally.
Meanwhile, work on the cathedral has stalled months after the project’s contractor, RIBADE Company LTD, laid off more than 200 of its workers due to lack of funds.
The building site on a 14.5-acre plot of land adjacent to Ghana’s Parliament House has stalled after the government spent about GH¢200 million on the project.
A March 14, 2022, letter signed by project manager Grant Ramsey circulating on social media asked all workers to return every piece of property in their possession to the human resources office.
It said it was only following through on parts of the agreement to reduce costs because it had not received funding for the project.
