Why Dag Heward-Mills resigned from the NC board

Famed Ghanaian preacher and founder of the Lighthouse Chapel International Bishop Dag Heward-Mills resigned from the board of trustees of the the National Cathedral project. Since news of his resignation broke out, there has been numerous speculations about why the respected man of God stepped down from the position which he shares with other top church leaders.

Reports reaching us from trusted sources explain why Bishop Deg Heward-Mills stood down from his position on the board. The medical doctor turned preacher resigned due to numerous unresolved issues that has been raised at the board.

Some of the concerns raised in his resignation letter are the cost of the cathedral, its location, fundraising and design of the project. He said he did not receive responses despite writing several times to the board seeking answers.

“I feel that the treatment of the issues I have raised in my several letters has been unfortunate. My letters have been ignored in the past; not attended to for years, and at best addressed flippantly,” he stated in the letter addressed to the Board of Trustees.

“You may recall I have spoken passionately and written extensively about the costs, the design, the location, the fundraising, the mobilization of the churches, and the role of the trustees. These, if heeded, would have made our project more achievable. Generally speaking, my inputs, my opinions, and my letters have been trivialized and set aside,” he added.

He said he was not registered as a Director of the National Cathedral of Ghana, six years after he was verbally appointed by the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as a Director.

“I do not believe this is an oversight but a deliberate exclusion from the Board. Six years is a long time to correct this failure to register me if it was indeed an administrative lapse.”

“l have therefore accepted for some time now that I am not a trustee of the National Cathedral, but I have still sought to help with the Cathedral because I believe in the President’s vision and I do not have to be a legally registered trustee to do so. I refer to myself in this letter as a trustee because even though l am not privy to most of the weighty decisions of the Board I am referred to as such.”

Bishop Dag Heward-Mills also noted that there is no form of clarity between the role of the church and that of the state regarding the project.

“This lack of clarity is robbing our vision of the validity it needs. Over and over, I have asked that we address this appropriately and urgently because there are many dire implications to the trustees and the individuals involved in this project.”

He also added that the Board of Trustees of the project are just a shadow pole but the real decision makers regarding the project are different, a situation he finds very uncomfortable. He said though he attended every meeting of the board since the pandemic he has no knowledge of many of the financial and technical issues concerning the project and that is because the decisions are made outside of the board by a different set of people.

“I have been a reachable and available trustee and attended every single meeting of trustees since the pandemic began, in person and by zoom, and the records will show that. If I say that I, as a trustee, do not know many of the financial and technical issues concerning the Cathedral, it means the discussions about the National Cathedral were held by some people outside the trustees’ meeting or perhaps in a forum that I was not present or invited to.”

“On the one hand, the National Cathedral is said to be a Government of Ghana project, with the government taking financial decisions. Yet, on another hand, at meetings, it is implied that the trustees have taken or participated in taking some decisions.”

While resigning, Bishop Dag said: I would like to state clearly that if in the future, there is more clarity to my role and function in the building of the Cathedral, I remain open, available and willing to serve at the pleasure of the President and the nation. Regardless of your response to my resignation and inputs, I remain a supporter of the National Cathedral project and will endeavour to be present to rejoice with the nation when this project is completed.”

Ablakwa Exposes a Board Member in GHS2.6 million scandal

Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu Samule Okudzeto Ablakwa released what has been of the biggest scandals surrounding the project yesterday. The outspoken MP released identification documents of a member of the board Reverend Victor Kusi Boateng who he accused of possessing a separate set of documents including a Ghanaian passport bearing a different identity.

Mr Ablakwa alleged that Reverend Kusi Boateng owns TNS Talent Centre Ltd, a company that runs a Crèche at Dawhenya and was paid GHS2.6 million as part of work on the cathedral project.

According to the National Cathedral Secretariat, the money was paid to TNS as a refund. However, there has not been any proofs of the time TNS loaned money to the National Cathedral project and warranted a refund.

Ablakwa said the documents in his possesion showed that one Mr Kwabena Adu Gyamfi is the same person as Reverend Victor Kusi Boateng and is a director of the TNS.