The head of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has joined the calls for the government to stop building the controversial National Cathedral.
Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh says that there is no room in the current economic crisis for projects like the Cathedral that are just for show.
Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh said that he was unhappy with the project and that it was not a "sensible" one.
On Thursday, December 15, he said at a roundtable discussion put on by the Citizen's Coalition that it's not too late to stop the project.
He said that important projects could be done on the site.
"This is not the time for vanity projects, but we have saved one in the form of the cathedral," he said. "I was hoping that since we are in a crisis, we would think about that decision and say that even if it makes sense to do this, which I don't think it does, that now is not the right time or that we will change the idea to something else, because there is still a lot we can do with that site that makes sense."
Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh also said that the government missed a chance with the 2023 budget to change how its priorities were set.
He said that some useless spending could have been cut, but it wasn't.
"In times of trouble, you can do amazing things. Professor Prempeh said, "There's nothing in the budget that makes me think this is a crisis and this is being done as a last-minute fix."
He said that the government's only goal for the 2023 budget was to get a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"So, in general, I think we have missed a chance to see this as a crisis and a chance to reset the button. I don't think we have done that yet."
"It looks to me like it's just a last-minute request for the IMF to approve a loan, not something that goes deep into our structure and government."