Senior Governance Advisor, Professor David Abdulai has said if the National Cathedral Secretariat had said from the beginning that the project was a public project, the public outcry would not have been this much.
In is view, since it has now been established that it is a public project the managers should let the public know what the financing entails.
Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday June 18, he said “If they had said it is a public project from the start I am sure people will not flare up this much.
“Now that it has been established that it is a public project you should let the public in on what it entails or the details must be clear to the public.”
Bringing finality to the debate as to whether the project is state or privately owned, the Secretariat in a statement on Friday June 17 said “In his first official announcement on the project on March 6, 2017 the President underscored the nature of the project as a national cathedral for interdenominational worship services for the nation.
“Subsequent elaborations, led to three main reasons as the rationale for the project, namely i) gesture of thanksgiving ii) symbol of the Christian presence and contributions to the nation, and iii) a personal pledge to God. Of these three reasons, the personal pledge came to be associated with the Cathedral as a “private” project that needed to be developed without state support.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the National Cathedral is a National Monument, and thus a public, not private, project. Legally, the National Cathedral of Ghana is a state-owned company limited by guarantee, and was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179) on July 18, 2019. We hope this brings to a closure the seemingly vexatious issue of whether the National Cathedral is a private or public initiative. The National Cathedral is a National Monument and Asset, and not a Private project. It is, however being developed in partnership between the state and the church,” a statement by the Secretariat on Friday June 17 said.”
Reacting to this also on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday June 18,Cape Coast South Member of Parliament Kweku Ricketts Hagan said it must now be subjected to the Public-Private-Partnership laws.
“It should be subjected to the laws of the public private partnership.
“We have laws on PPP, so we have to go to the beginning of this project and subject it to PPP laws, for this project to come to parliament,” he said.
By Laud Nartey|editors.3news.com|Ghana
