President Akufo-Addo has defended the need to complete the construction of the National Cathedral.
He insists that the controversial project will signify an appreciation to God who he believes has spared the country from conflicts and plagues over the years.
According to him, the project whose 2023 budgetary allocation approval has been suspended will be geared toward thanking God for “sparing us the ravages of civil war that have bedevilled the histories of virtually all our neighbours and the outbreak of deadly mass epidemics but also as a rallying point for the entire Christian community of Ghana, which represents seventy-plus per cent of the population.”
He spoke during the centenary celebration of the Ga Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at the Black Star Square in Accra on December 18.
Addressing the congregants, President Akufo-Addo further courted the support of Ghanaians to make the country a better place for all.
“I need the support of every Ghanaian, together with the prayers of the church, to help me and my government carry out our mandate successfully,” he added on Sunday.
Key among the clergy present at the event were the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante.
On December 13, the Trades and Industry Committee of Parliament put on hold the approval of ₵80 million allocated for the construction of the National Cathedral.
The allocation, which was made to the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), failed to receive endorsement by the Committee because members want more answers from the sector Minister.
According to Tamale Central MP, Murtala Mohammed who disclosed this to JoyNews, until the Committee is satisfied, they will approve the Ministry’s estimates without the funds allocated to the National Cathedral.
What the Committee decided was that we cannot just approve this GH₵80 million, we must know how the other ¢339 million was spent. What did it constitute?
“The ¢80 million you want us to approve, how did it find space in the budget line of the Ministry of Tourism when the Minister and the directors could not speak to the questions we were asking? What constitutes the ¢80 million, they should give us a breakdown,” he disclosed in an interview with JoyNews.
In the wake of the economic downturn, many are asking why the construction of the National Cathedral remains the subject of big-ticket spending in the spending plans of the government.
Already, some ¢339 million has been spent on the project, an edifice that President Akufo-Addo says is his personal pledge to God.
But, the Okyehene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II has pleaded support for the building of the National Cathedral so as not to bring shame to President Akufo-Addo.
