In 2021, the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral Secretariat, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, provided explanations on why there was the need for Ghana to build the national edifice.
Speaking in an interview with JoyNews, the preacher, who has recently been at the center of a lot of controversies, said that the building of a National Cathedral goes beyond a religious act.
He explained that the building of the edifice will bring a lot of economic benefits to the country, including boosting the tourism sector.
“We can go beyond the cathedral, into using this particular opportunity of being trusted by the president to, in a way, translate it into religious tourism. In this time and age of this nation, I don’t know why it is wrong for us to bring dynamism or for us to really come up with a concept that will be nothing short of religious tourism.
“What we are doing goes beyond building a church. What we are doing… you realise will bring a lot of air traffic (sic)… but it is a venture that will translate the purposes of our desire for revolution in our tourism industry,” he said.
Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng also explained that the economic benefits of the building to the nation are necessary, much as it will be historic.
“And so, at this time, in the history of this nation, we need such a thing. Besides its spiritual significance, we can never underestimate its economic benefits this nation will get,” he explained.
Rev. Kusi Boateng has recently been accused by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, of a conflict of interest in business transactions undertaken by the National Cathedral Secretariat and the JNS Talents Centre, which runs a crèche at Dawhenya.
According to the MP, the company, which he later revealed was owned by the preacher but under a different name, was paid some GH¢2.6 million to help it build the cathedral.
The MP also produced documents to the effect that Kusi Boateng has multiple passports (including a diplomatic one) bearing different names apart from what he is popularly known as.
Rev. Kusi Boateng has however denied all the allegations against him.