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An aerial view of the construction site.
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 begin in April this year after a foundation stone was laid on March 5 this year.
However, a Daily Graphic visit in July to the 14.5-acre site next to the House of Parliament established that construction on the Cathedral had stopped as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the secretary of the National Cathedral’s Board of Trustees, the Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, said construction was halted due to some “complications.”
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He explained: “It had to be delayed because there were few complications regarding the people who were going to be working on the project.”
According to the Rev. Kusi Boateng, most of the workers were out of the country and, due to the closing of the borders, work on the cathedral had to stop.
“If it weren’t for COVID, it would have been in the middle of this year, but due to COVID, it has been rescheduled for October now that the borders are open,” he said.
The Rev. Kusi Boateng also noted that the selection of a contractor for the project was almost complete.
“By the grace of God, the project contractor has almost been approved and therefore construction will begin by the first week or two in October,” he said.
He also expressed optimism that the project will be completed on time.
“We have made a lot of adjustments … if everything continues, then instead of four years, by the grace of God, in three years we will be close to completing the project.”
National Cathedral
The National Cathedral of Ghana is an interfaith Christian church that is being built as part of the legacy to mark 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 of the cathedral was presented by the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in March 2018. She said at the time that the construction of the cathedral was the fulfillment of a promise she made to God in the run-up to the 2016 general election.
The cathedral will have a 5,000 seat 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 in the next five years and is estimated to cost more than $ 100 million.
A board of directors was inaugurated in March 2017 to oversee its construction and is chaired by a former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, the Rev. Samuel Asante Antwi, with the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, the Rev. Charles Palmer-Buckle, as Vice President, and the Founder and General Supervisor of Power Chapel Worldwide, Prophet Kusi Boateng, as Secretary.
It has a strong representation of the heads of many churches, both Orthodox and Charismatic.
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