Dr. Opoku-Mensah appointed Overseer of national cathedral
Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah has been appointed the Overseer of the national cathedral which the government of Ghana says it will build.
Dr. Opoku-Mensah, a political scientist and former academic, ended an eight-year tenure as the Executive Director of the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT) on October 1, 2017.
“As at October 1, 2017 the Executive Director, Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah has begun his annual leave, after which he will be assuming a new position as the Overseer of a National Cathedral that the President of Ghana wants built for the country. With this, Dr Opoku-Mensah completes eight years of service to GILLBT as the Executive Director,” the Bible translation organization said in an email.
President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, cut the sod for the construction of the national cathedral on Independence Day March 6, 2017. The cathedral is expected to be on used for interdenominational worship in Accra.
The cathedral will be constructed on the premises of the Scholarship Secretariat near the State House and is expected to serve as a venue for formal occasions of State and other national events, as well as interdenominational worship.
“This is a gesture of thanksgiving to the Almighty for the blessings He has showered and continues to shower on our nation,” the President said.
He also noted that the State had bequeathed the land for the project but the funding would be provided by the religious community.
Following the announcement the President later appointed a Board of Trustees for the project. The board is chaired by a former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, the Most Rev. Samuel Asante Antwi. The Most Rev. Charles Palmer Buckle, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra is the Vice-Chairperson, and the Founder and General Overseer of Power Chapel Worldwide, Prophet Kusi Boateng, is the Secretary.
The other members of the Board are Apostle Dr Opoku Onyinah, Chairman of the Church of Pentecost and President of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council,; Rev. Joyce Aryee, the Founder of Salt and Light Ministries; the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Right Rev. Prof. Cephas Omenyo; the Archbishop of the Church of the Province of West Africa and Bishop of Accra, the Most Rev. Dr Justice Offei Akrofi.
The rest are; Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, the Founder of Action Chapel International; Rev. Eastwood Anaba, the Founder and President of Fountain Gate Chapel; Bishop Dag Heward Mills, the Founder and Presiding Bishop of the Lighthouse Chapel International; Pastor Mensa Otabil, the Founder of the International Central Gospel Church; Rev. Dr Yaw Frimpong Manso and the Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey, both former Moderators of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi