Nat’l Cathedral: Clergy victims of Akufo-Addo’s deception, don’t attack them – Ablakwa

Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, says the clergy do not deserve to be attacked and must not be attacked for endorsing the construction of the national cathedral because they are victims of Akufo-Addo’s deception. His comment comes after the membership of the Board to Trustees of the national cathedral was amended to reflect Pastor Mensa Otabil’s exit.

A section of Ghanaians on social media insist, the rest of the clergy on the Board must follow Otabil’s example and resign because the government was constructing the cathedral with tax money despite earlier assurances that no tax money would be used.

Members of the Board of Trustees include Apostle Prof Opoku Onyinah (Church of Pentecost), Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle (Catholic Church), Most Rev Bishop Justice Ofei Akrofi (Anglican Church), Rt Rev Prof Emmanuel Martey (Presbyterian Church), Most Rev T. K Awotwi Pratt (Methodist church) and Rev Prof Cephas Omenyo (Presbyterian church).

The rest are Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams (Action Chapel International), Rev Dr Joyce Aryee (Salt and Light Ministries), Bishop Dag Heward-Mills (Lighthouse Group of Churches), Rev Eastwood Anaba (Eastwood Anaba Ministries), Rev Victor Kusi-Boateng (Power Chapel Worldwide) and Rev Dr Frimpong Manso (Assemblies of God).

Reacting to the backlash against the clergy, Mr Ablakwa in a Facebook post said “in my deeply candid view, borne out of tons of documents I have reviewed on the Akufo-Addo cathedral scandal — the eminent pastors, just like the rest of us are victims of President Akufo-Addo’s deception, lack of transparency, insensitivity, recklessness and festival of lawlessness.”

He noted that “The clergy do not deserve to be attacked, they must not be attacked, and we must not encourage or endorse any such attacks”.

He insisted that “Our focus must be on holding the Akufo-Addo government accountable for these grave transgressions, carried out rather blasphemously in the Lord’s holy name”.