Work on National Cathedral to resume in October

Work on the construction of the National Cathedral is expected to resume in October following the easing of Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions in Ghana.

Initial construction of the Cathedral was supposed to commence in April this year after the laying of a foundation stone on March 5 this year.

However, a visit by the Daily Graphic in July to the 14.5-acre land next to the Parliament House established that the construction of the Cathedral had been halted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Secretary to the Board of Trustees for the National Cathedral, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, said the construction came to a standstill due to some “complications”.

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He explained, “It had to be delayed because there were few complications with regards to the people who were going to be working on the project.”

According to Rev Kusi Boateng, most of the workers were outside the country, and because of the closure of borders, work on the Cathedral had to stop.

“If not for the COVID, it would have been middle of this year but because of the COVID, it’s been rescheduled to October now that the borders are open,” he said.

Rev Kusi Boateng also noted that the selection of a contractor for the project had almost concluded.

“By the grace of God, the contractor for the project has almost been approved and so by the first or second week of October, construction will start,” he said.

He also expressed optimism that the project would be completed on schedule.

“We’ve made a lot of adjustments…if all goes on then instead of four years, by the grace of God, in three years we will be near completion of the project.”

National Cathedral

The National Cathedral of Ghana is an inter-denominational Christian church that is being built as part of the legacy to commemorate the country’s 60th anniversary.

It was proposed by the government in March 2017 and is expected to be a physical embodiment of national unity, harmony and spirituality.

The design for the cathedral was unveiled by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in March 2018. He said at the time that the construction of the cathedral was in fulfilment of a promise he made to God in the run-up to the general election in 2016.

The cathedral will have a 5,000-seater capacity with chapels, a baptistery, a music school, an art gallery and a Bible museum. The site will also house a music school, an art gallery and a museum dedicated to the Bible.

Construction work is expected to be completed within the next five years and is estimated to cost over $100 million.

A board of trustees to supervise its construction was inaugurated in March 2017 and is chaired by a former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, Most Rev. Samuel Asante Antwi, with the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, the Most Rev. Charles Palmer-Buckle, as Vice-Chairperson, and the Founder and General Overseer of Power Chapel Worldwide, Prophet Kusi Boateng, as Secretary.

It has a heavy representation of the heads of many churches, both orthodox and charismatic.