The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah, has disclosed that the architect and site for the National Cathedral Project were all selected before the selection of the Board of Trustees.
In a statement responding to the claims made by Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, the Apostle said “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”.
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.
Bishop Heward-Mills among other things noted 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.
However, in his response, Apostle Opoku Onyinah stated that no single member of the Board of Trustees can have his preferences, methods, or approaches accepted by other board members.
“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.”
