Your statement lack candour, bereft of sincerity – Ablakwa tackles National Cathedral secretariat

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP, North Tongu MP, accused the Executive Director of the National Cathedral, Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, of not being sincere with the issues raised in his statement to clarify the controversies surrounding the construction of the religious monument.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM, on Friday, MP, who has been exposing the government acting unconstitutionally regarding the construction of the cathedral disagreed with most of the issues that statement seems to clarify.

“When you read the statement carefully, it is clear to me that we are no longer talking about seed money…what the statement does is [to tell us that] let’s prepare our minds, this is a government of Ghana project and it confirms all the documents we have intercepted regarding the finance of the project…,” he said.

Talking about the statement’s clarification on the resignation of Pastor Mensa Otabil, founder of the International Central Gospel Church, ICGC, from the Board of Trustees, Ablakwa noted the statement lack candour and is bereft of sincerity.

“You cannot say that Rev. Mensa Otabil has never really been part of the Board of Trustees. So, why keep his name, his effigy on your website,” he quizzed.

He alleged that the National Cathedral Secretariat used Rev. Otabil’s name “as a certain credibility drive and that everybody is on board and they were using it all over the world…they cannot say that it was just a lapse they didn’t know about,” he insisted.

He added that “they have not even been fair to the venerable pastor and the general public, so you will admit that what was going on was a clear misrepresentation.”

The Executive Director in a 7-page statement issued on June 17, among others, explained the resignation of the Founder of the International Central Gospel Church, Dr. Mensa Otabil, saying that he has not been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2019, due to his unwillingness to register to be part of the Board of Trustees.

Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah also confirmed that the project has stalled.