The Coalition of Muslim Organizations, Ghana (COMOG) has refuted claims that the government contributed money for the construction of the National Mosque at Kanda in Accra.
In a statement issued on 13 June 2022, the coalition disclosed that a comment made by the Chief Executive Officer of the National Cathedral, Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah suggesting that the Ghanaian government spent State resources on the National Mosque was not true.
“We, the Coalition of Muslim Organizations, Ghana (COMOG), on behalf of all Muslim organisations in Ghana, wish to state unequivocally and without any fear or favour that not a single pesewa from the State by any political regime was contributed to the construction of the Kanda National Mosque.
“The CEO of the National Cathedral made this statement in an attempt to justify the sum of over GHc25 million of State resources as seed money for the construction of the most controversial project in Ghana today, the National Cathedral,” the statement by the group said.
The coalition continued: “Contrary to his statement, we Muslims have rather been shortchanged in the matter of our Accra Central Mosque, which was pulled down by the State, only for the government to compensate us with a bare land for that loss. Our magnanimity towards the State and our commitment to peaceful coexistence must not be misconstrued by some people to be a weakness”.
The coalition subsequently called on the CEO of the National Cathedral to apologise for his comments.
“We, therefore, by this statement, wish to call on Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah to come out and retract that deliberate falsehood and apologise to the entire Muslim Ummah Ghana. We also demand that this rejoinder be read in the next edition of the GTV Talking Point programme to correct the falsehood,” the statement concluded.
The National Cathedral has been in the news for negative reasons.
This follows the constant attack on the project by the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
Mr Ablakwa called for the removal of the finance minister after he released GH¢ 142.7 million towards the construction of the edifice even though the government had earlier promised that the cathedral would not be built with state funds.
According to the MP, the drastic unilateral decision taken by the sector minister violates Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution, which dictates the processes involved in the withdrawal of public funds.
Dr Opoku-Mensah apology
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the National Cathedral project, Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, has 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.
He admonished the public not to compare the two projects, adding that the National Cathedral and the National Mosque are two distinct projects.
“We should not equalise the discussion on the National Cathedral and the National Mosque, as they are separate projects.”
Background of the Ghana National Mosque
The Ghana National Mosque is the second largest mosque in West Africa.
The Turkish Hudai Foundation funded the mosque in Accra with the support of the Turkish government at the cost of $10 million.
The complex includes a residence for the Chief Imam, a school and a library.
The construction of the national mosque began in 2012.
In 1995, the late president of Ghana, Flt lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings gave out the land to replace a mosque he destroyed for the building of the Rawlings Park in Accra.
The project was started by the Muslim Community in Ghana and was abandoned for close to 10 years because of a lack of funds.