The immediate past president of Full Gospel Church International has asked government to set up an independent Inter Council Committee of clergymen to probe controversies surrounding the National Cathedral Project.

This, Bishop Samuel Mensah said, is necessary to allow for transparency and accountability regarding the project, particularly when the government has called for donations of funds to finance the project.

Speaking on Upfront on Thursday, the Executive member of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) said the government has not been clear on the amount of money invested into the project.

“It is not too clear…it would probably be helpful if we should form Inter council committee to investigate this. At least, for purposes of integrity and to keep faith with the people so that we can have an independent investigation on this whole saga.

“Find out how much money has been released where the money has gone to, what is the state of the situation so that at least we can convey that information to the public and let the public be educated and well-informed on this…I think we all deserve to know what is going on,” he told Raymond Acquah.

Bishop Mensah believes that due to the country’s economic hardship, the government should halt the national cathedral project and allow controversies surrounding the cathedral’s building to die down.

“At this time of the situation we find ourselves in the midst of world crisis, just coming out of Covid and we still have not come out of the ruins.

“I think at this stage government should slow down, hold on, let us go back to investigate how those monies have been utilised…let us get the public to have faith in this project,” he noted.

The Secretariat of the National Cathedral has said an amount of ₵250million has so far been released to fund the project which is currently at its foundation level.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the National Cathedral of Ghana has confirmed that the construction of the religious edifice has stalled.

Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah explained that the status quo can be attributed to “the vagaries of the fundraising”.

In a statement issued on Friday, June 17, he assured that construction would soon restart.

JoyNews checks at the project site on Monday, June 13 showed that work on the project has reportedly stalled for the past three months.

Sources disclosed that there is currently no work ongoing at the site but work is still at the foundation level.