National Cathedral
National Organizer hopeful for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Henry Osei Akoto, has re-echoed that the administrative governance of Ghana belongs to no individual interest, but rather depends on the collective effort of its citizens.
Speaking on the trending issue of the government’s plans to construct a monumental cathedral for the country, the NDC Executive labelled it as a misplaced priority.
According to him, the budget allocated for the construction of the national cathedral is extreme, considering the fact that the government has failed to address other necessary issues including the school feeding programme brouhaha among others.
In an interview with Don Kwabena Prah on Happy98.9 FM’s “Epa Hoa Daben” socio-political talk show, Henry Osei Akoto reiterated he is not against building a temple but, “How can someone make a personal promise and tie it on the rest of us?”
“Ghana isn’t for anyone or willed to anyone. It belongs to every one of us and our responsibility is to stay and build this country in peace. Government says they are going to build a temple and this NPP gov’t has committed over GHC400m to the project. I’m not and I can’t speak against the church but over 400m cedis is a bad decision and very extreme,” he said.
“How much do we owe our ladies in the school feeding programme who cook and feed our children? We are talking about Ghanaians and for that our kids in these schools who could be the future leaders of their generation,” he added.
In his view, the government needs to prioritize addressing the arrears owed the caterers before “proceeding to relinquish extravagant budget on the national cathedral.”
“The government is committed to building a church leaving our kids to hunger, creating problems and putting people on the sick bed. Yet they sit with their hands in-between their legs and tell us everything is normal. So if some of us fail to come out and speak for the rest of Ghanaians, who else was going to?” he quizzes.
Meanwhile the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, has argued Ghana cannot be transformed and sustained without spirituality. According to him, the National Cathedral project will rake in more revenue for the state upon completion.
Mr. Ofori-Atta said that once completed and fully operational, the National Cathedral was projected to raise at least US$1.8 billion within the first five years of operation.