The Ghanaian Coalition of Muslim Organizations has denied charges that the Ghanaian government misused public funds on the construction of the National Mosque at Kanda.
The Coalition, in a statement released on Monday, June 13, unequivocally disputed the charges made by Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, Chief Executive Officer of the National Cathedral, during an appearance on GTV on Sunday, June 12.
"We, the Coalition of Muslim Groups in Ghana (COMOG), on behalf of all Muslim organizations in Ghana, desire to say categorically and without fear or favor that no pesewa from the state was donated to the construction of the Kanda National Mosque by any political regime."
"This assertion was given by the CEO of the National Cathedral in an interview." "This comment was made by the CEO of the National Cathedral in an attempt to explain the Thompson Road amount of over GHc25 million in state resources as seed money for the development of Ghana's most contentious project today, the National Cathedral."
"As a Muslim organization mandated to safeguard the image and purity of Islam as well as the reputation of the Ummah in Ghana, we can't allow such a blatant untruth by a high-profile appointee of Dr. Opoku-stature Mensah's when the facts do not support his claim," the statement said in part.
"Contrary to his assertion, we Muslims have rather been shortchanged in the case of our Accra Central Mosque, which was demolished by the state, only for Government to reimburse us with barren land for that loss," the Coalition stated. Some individuals may misinterpret our magnanimity toward the state and our dedication to peaceful cohabitation as a sign of weakness."
After expressing their displeasure, the Coalition demanded an apology from the CEO of the National Cathedral.
"We thus desire to call on Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah to repudiate that malicious fabrication and apologize to the whole Muslim Ummah of Ghana through this statement." We also demand that this rebuttal be published in the next issue of GTV.
The message closed with a reference to the Talking Points program, which was used to rectify the untruth.
Meanwhile, Dr. Mensa Otabil, the founder of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), is said to have ceased attending National Cathedral Board of Trustees meetings.
According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Ranking Member of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, this discovery has been made.
Mr Ablakwa, speaking on JoyNews' The Probe on Sunday, said that the theologian's defection was due to the Akufo-Addo government's illegality in relation to the project.
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