Cathedral Director apologises for saying state facilitated national mosque construction
The Executive Director and Project Coordinator of the National Cathedral of Ghana, Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah has retracted and apologised for saying the state facilitated the construction of the national mosque.
“I retract and apologise for the use of ‘state facilitation’ in my response and deeply regret the pain it might have caused the COMOG and the Muslim Umma in Ghana,” he said in a press release issued on Monday, June 13.
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The release was in reaction to a statement issued by the Coalition of Muslims, Ghana (COMOG) on the matter.
COMOG had in a statement on June 13, 2022, called-on Dr Opoku-Mensah to retract and apologise to all Muslims.
The Coalition also refuted claims suggesting that the government of Ghana spent state resources during the construction of the National Mosque at Kanda.
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Highlighting the comments he made in the GBC Talking Point discussion on Sunday, June 12, 2022, Dr Opoku Mensah urged Ghanaians not to equalize the discussions on the National Cathedral and National Mosque because they were separate projects.
“In making this retraction and apology, I want to highlight what I said in the interview, and repeated in my telephone conversation with Hajj Abdel-Rahman:
“We should not equalise the discussions on the National Cathedral and the National Mosque as they are separate projects.
“We should be very careful as a nation not to disrupt the unique peaceful relations that exists between Muslims and Christians. The Chief Imam, His Eminence Sheikh Dr Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu through, among others, his inspiring personal support for the National Cathedral project, continues to show us the way.
“The National Mosque and the National Cathedral provide a historic opportunity for these two Abrahamic faiths – Islam and Christianity – whose adherents constitute almost 90% of Ghana’s population, to have the national platforms from which to work together in support of the nation’s peace, cohesion and transformation.”
