Akufo-Addo reaffirms his support for National Cathedral

President Nana Akufo-Addo has publicly repeated his support for the construction of a National Cathedral for Ghana despite fierce criticisms from a section of the public that the current unfavourable economic situation in the country makes it an inappropriate time to fund such a monumental edifice.

The President has not only repeated his support for the construction of the Cathedral but has as well called on the Christian community in Ghana and across the world to support the funding of the ongoing construction which has been enveloped in an unholy controversy with political partisan trappings.

The President insists that “looking through the history of all the great cathedrals of the world, there has never been what can be called an appropriate time to build a cathedral. Invariably, it has taken many years, sometimes centuries, to complete.”

He said all over the world where such edifices of national importance had been built, they were constructed at a time the countries in question still had several crucial developmental needs including the need for the construction of roads, schools, hospitals and other facilities.

Nana Akufo-Addo added: “I daresay, if one were to consider only those needs there would never be a good time to build a church, a cathedral or any of the great buildings of faith around the world”.

“But once they are built, they have proven to be instruments that brought people together and deepened the spiritual and emotional experience of the vast majority of people”.

The President made the remarks on Tuesday July 26, 2022 when he addressed the 19th Plenary Assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), which was held the Christ the King Church in Accra.

On the question of funding, President Akufo-Addo suggested that the National Cathedral, being a largely Christian-faith project, ought to be largely funded by the Christian community with some support from the State.

“My personal view has always been that even though the cathedral would be very much a national institution, the cost should be largely borne by the Christian community, with the state providing the land and initial funding to get the project off the ground”, President Akufo-Addo stated.

He opined that with the requisite support from the Christian faithful and the appropriate use of technology, the National Cathedral project would be completed in no time.

Controversy

The narrative preceding the construction of what has become known as a National Cathedral in Ghana has been wrapped in an unholy-controversy caused by an initial evasive attitude and a lack of transparency by the builders who have had an ostensibly paranoiac mentality that any form of probity was tantamount to aggressive opposition.

Vocal among the several critics of the construction was the Member of Parliament for the North Tongu Constituency; Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who consistently serialized jaw-dropping reports on the mode of funding.

Okudzeto Ablakwa has been vocal and categorical for weeks that tax payer’s money in excess of GHS200million has been withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund on the blind side of Parliament.

He has raised concerns that the mode of withdrawals of the amount from the Consolidated Fund was unconstitutional and unlawful even if it was meant to construct an abode for the Most High.

Another controversial narrative was how bizarre it was to clarify how the name and photos of Pastor Mensa Otabil was put in the public domain and even published on the website of the Cathedral that was a member of the Board of Trustees when in all honesty this was a false representation.

It took the same Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to roar in the media that there was some public deception in the formation of the supposed membership of the Board of Trustees before the builders and sponsors of the cathedral owned up and confessed Pastor Otabil was indeed not a Board member and had to remove his credentials from their website.