Presiding Apostle and General Overseer of Freedom Chapel International Ministry, Francis Amoako-Attah has urged the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to see to the completion of the controversial National Cathedral project.

He said Dr Bawumia might be destined to fulfill this project, which has stalled for years and caused significant controversy.

Speaking at a meeting between the clergy and the Vice President as part of his tour of the Greater Accra Region on Tuesday, June 4, Apostle Amoako-Attah said, "Your Excellency, maybe prophetically, the reason why that hole is still there is because God wants you to fulfill it.”

Read also: Let’s figure out how to complete National Cathedral project – Bawumia tells Clergy

"It's going to be so prophetic that once upon a time, a temple was built and the president who dedicated a temple for the Christians was a Muslim."

The Freedom Chapel International Ministry Apostle urged the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer to do "everything within your power, together with the team, to bring the church and the government together," and if possible, hand the project over to a private entity for management.

“Give it to a private man, let them build it, let them collect the money. … It’s going to be an indictment for Christianity and for this government to leave this bigger hole as it is forever.”

Apostle Amoako-Attah also said, "I'm so happy now that we have found somebody who is bringing the church into governance."

He added that as long as Ghanaians continue to view politics as dirty, it will remain so until they change that perception.

Let’s figure out how to complete National Cathedral project – Bawumia tells Clergy

The Vice President in response called on the clergy to collaborate with the government to find a way forward in completing the project.

He stressed the need for the church to unite and engage with the government to explore ways to secure private resources to complete the project.

"The question on the National Cathedral is a very important question. I have contributed to its construction personally. I believe it is a very important thing for Ghana."

"The church has to come together and meet the government so that we talk about the way forward. The church must come together and let the government know the best way forward on how we can get private resources to help us complete the National Cathedral," he said on Monday.

Dr Bawumia expressed optimism that a collective effort can find a solution, saying "if we all come together, we will figure it out."

"I think if we all come together we will figure it out because we cannot leave it where it is,” he added.

Background

The building of the Cathedral is in fulfillment of a pledge President Akufo-Addo claimed to have made to God before winning the 2016 elections.

The 5,000-seater auditorium Cathedral project will also bequeath to the country a gracious national park for all Ghanaians, bring new skills, technology and jobs to the country and act as a beacon to national, regional and international tourists.

In 2021, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta announced that the government will commission the ongoing National Cathedral project on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, but that did not happen as work on the project has stalled with millions of dollars already spent on it.

Aside from the lack of funds to continue the project, the project's construction has been embroiled in a lot of controversy with the National Cathedral Secretariat accused of misapplying the funds.

A member of the board of the project, Rev. Kusi Boateng has been dragged to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to be investigated over an alleged conflict of interest, including possession of multiple identities and other alleged criminal dealings.

The petitioner, MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, alleged among other things that there was a transfer of GH¢2.6 million from the National Cathedral Secretariat to JNS Talent Centre Limited owned by Rev. Kusi Boateng under a secondary identity - Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

Mr Ablakwa said the petition was seeking to invoke the mandate of CHRAJ under Article 218 of the 1992 Constitution to investigate the “odious conflict of interest” with regard to Rev. Boateng’s position on the National Cathedral board as he “literally paid his own company a staggering GH¢2.6 million for no work done”.