A member on the National Cathedral Board of Trustees, Dr. Joyce Aryee, has said she disagrees with persons who say the staff payments, including those of the CEO, Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, should be halted.
She says the fact that the project has been suspended does not mean people are not working behind the scenes to keep it going.
Dr. Aryee has described the calls for the payments as “ridiculous”.
Speaking on the sidelines of a symposium organized in collaboration with TD Jakes’ divinity school on Monday, October 14, Dr Aryee said, “if a project is on hold, it doesn’t mean that people are not working to keep it going. I’m surprised, I don’t even want to comment on it, as ridiculous as this. No, I won’t comment.”
Her response follows growing concerns over the project’s stalled progress and its impact on staff salaries.
In her further challenge to the calls, he said “so, you establish an organisation, the organisation should stop because you don’t have money to continue a certain aspect of the organisation. Is that it? Answer it yourself.”
Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, the Executive Director of the National Cathedral, has, meanwhile, clarified that the project goes beyond the putting up of a church building.
According to him, the project could potential generate revenue for the state and exhibit Ghana’s rich cultural heritage to the world.
Despite the numerous criticism the project has faced due to the pumping of public funds into it, Dr. Opoku-Mensah remains optimistic, particularly following a symposium held in collaboration with TD Jakes’ divinity school. The event aimed to educate the public about the broader functions of the cathedral.
Envisioned as a historic landmark, the cathedral is intended to serve as a sacred space for religious activities. Additionally, it will feature Africa’s first Museum of the Bible, a collaboration with the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.
“The symposium is just conceived as the National Cathedral’s response to what in Ghana we perceive to be the return initiatives and offer a pathway mediated by faith to connecting Ghana to the African diaspora.
“This collaboration will seek to develop a Pan-African community to collectively work to address historical, racial and contemporary of Africa’s contributions to theology practice.
“We seek to demonstrate the conveying functions of the National Cathedral, the National Cathedral project is often misunderstood, conceived almost entirely as a physical church building. The National Cathedral is more than a church and it includes critical national, continental and global conversations.”
He congratulated TD Jakes’ divinity school for taking students across the African continent.
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