Rev. Joyce Aryee, a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, has dismissed calls for the dissolution of the board due to the several controversies that have bedeviled the project.
Speaking in an interview, the founder and leader of the Salt and Light Ministries noted that calls for the dissolution of the board of trustees, are just from a small percentage of the general public.
“It is their opinion and I violently disagree with them. Again who are these people who are saying it and what percentage of the population is it.”
Rev Aryee
Rev Aryee further revealed that the board of trustees did nothing wrong by paying GH¢2.6 million to Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, who is the secretary to the board. According to her, the money was a refund of a loan provided by Rev. Kusi Boateng and finds the public brouhaha quite strange.
“In August 2022, we were in need of GH¢2.6 million and a letter was written to that effect and a member of the board decided to help until the money came into the account from the Accountant General.
“He was not doing any contractual work. Here at salt and light, when the church needs a loan, Joyce Aryee signs a cheque and when the money comes it is refunded. So it was a loan and there was no interest.”
Rev Aryee
The Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency, Hon Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, on Monday January 16, petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to probe the GH₵2.6 million paid to JNS Talent, a company owned by the Secretary of the National Cathedral Board, Victor Kusi Boateng under a different identity.
JNS Talent Centre Ltd which allegedly runs a crèche in Dawhenya was paid some GH¢2.6 million to help build the cathedral, Mr Ablakwa alleged last Wednesday, January 11.
The lawmaker further alleged that JNS Talent is owned by one Kwabena Adu Gyamfi. According to him, documents in his possession reveal that Mr Kwabena Adu Gyamfi is the same as Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng who still serves on the National Cathedral Board as an Executive Council Member/Director.
But Rev. Kusi Boateng in response has described the allegations as a twisted narration of events to pursue a malicious political agenda. In a statement, the founder and General Overseer of Power Chapel Worldwide said he will avail himself to investigations by CHRAJ after which he will seek redress.
President Picked Architect, land For National Cathedral Before Appointing Trustees
Meanwhile, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, has revealed that President Nana Akufo Addo selected the architect and site for the project before the selection of the Board of Trustees.
“All Trustees were aware of this,” Apostle Opoku Onyinah noted 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.
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.
Apostle Onyinah
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