The National Cathedral Secretariat has reacted to the resignation of Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams and Rev. Eastwood Anaba from the Board of Trustees overseeing the construction of the project. The clergymen had cited the lack of a “needed audit” as their reason for stepping down.
But the Executive Director of the National Cathedral Secretariat, Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, has refuted the grounds for the clergymen’s resignation, deeming them flawed.
On October 12, 2023, Archbishop Duncan-Williams, founder of the United Denominations of Action Chapel Churches Worldwide, and Rev. Anaba, President of Eastwood Anaba Ministries, tendered a joint resignation, expressing their concern over the government’s failure to appoint an independent audit firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of all public funds contributed to the National Cathedral.
In their resignation letter, they stated, “Despite our prayers, best hopes and wishes, unfortunately, a needed audit to help restore public confidence and trust in this consequential project has not been enacted to the best of our knowledge. Since January 2023, we awaited news, to no avail regarding the finding of the audit.”
However, the Executive Director of the National Cathedral project, Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, asserted that an audit had already commenced. He explained that Deloitte was engaged in March to initiate the audit, with an expected completion date in July 2023.
“Following this, the engagement letter for Deloitte to officially begin the audit was drafted and signed by Deloitte on March 27, 2023, and set up on their system on May 17, 2023. The expectation was that the first part of the audit was to be completed in July 2023. The audit process, so far, can be confirmed with the auditors, Deloitte.”
“The Board was constantly updated on the process through the Chairman and the Steering Committee, as well as the Executive Director’s reports to the meetings of the Board.”
“Although Archbishop Duncan Williams and Rev. Eastwood Anaba were not present at both the June 2023 and September 2023 meetings, they and all the other Board members who were not physically present at the meeting were sent copies of all the documents for the Board meeting, including the Executive Director’s report. The claim that they have received no information, whatsoever, on the audit process is therefore false.”
