Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah, Executive Director of the Public Cathedral of Ghana (NCG), has called for a national debate on the structure's significance.
"The National Cathedral of Ghana — a historic and game-changing undertaking – demands a more elevated national discourse on its nature, finance, and importance than has been the case so far."
The NCG Secretariat was dedicated to an elevated conversation on the project, as well as an open and transparent communication procedure, according to a statement signed by the Executive Director and copied to the Ghana News Agency.
In his first formal declaration on the project on March 6, 2017, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo emphasized the project's role as a national cathedral for interdenominational worship services.
According to the statement, the project's logic was based on three primary reasons: a gesture of appreciation, a sign of the Christian presence and contributions to the nation, and a personal vow to God.
The personal promise became connected with the Cathedral as a "private" enterprise that needed to be built without state funding, according to the report.
The National Cathedral is a National Monument, and hence a public, not a private, undertaking, according to the statement.
It said that the NCG was a state-owned corporation limited by guarantee that was formed on July 18, 2019 under the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179).
"We think that this resolves the vexing question of whether the National Cathedral is a private or public project." The National Cathedral is not a private initiative; it is a National Monument and Asset. However, it is being built in collaboration between the state and the church, according to the statement.
In announcing the National Cathedral, the President stated that, despite the fact that it was a National Monument, he was determined that its construction would not place excessive financial strain on the state.
As a result, the President suggested a development partnership between the government and the Ghanaian Christian community, both at home and abroad.
The State's involvement in the partnership was defined as follows: "Appointment of the Architect and Design"
the Land and its Preparation; the Secretariat's Establishment and Equipment; and Seed Money."
The release of the seed money, as Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta indicated in his Talking Point discussion on June 13, 2022, was thus a practical response to the State's commitment to the National Cathedral project, which the Minister informed Parliament and the nation in his Budget presentation in November 2018, the statement said.
Given the importance of the public understanding that partnership, particularly the role of the state, the Secretariat's publications, including the National Cathedral Update, which was issued to members of Parliament personally, reflected that structure and the role of the state, it added.
As part of the "Seed Money" campaign for the National Cathedral, As a result, the participation of the government in the initiative should be made public, according to the statement.