President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has likened persons opposing the construction of the National Cathedral to Sanballat and Tobias in the days of Nehemiah.
The project continues to generate debate especially following current economic woes facing the country. Some pundits have suggested that government should put a hold on the project until the economy stabilizes.
Cathedral can't save us
A Senior Lecturer at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Dr Asah Asante says money for the project should be diverted to security personnel to "protect us".
“Take the National Cathedral money and give it to the security people to protect us. The cathedral cannot protect anybody. There is nobody that is dying that we need the cathedral to protect. We need the people alive. So the security people must be given their money”.
Sanballat and Tobias
President Akufo-Addo who was delivering a speech on Sunday, December 18, 2022, at the centenary celebration of the Ga Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana highlighted the importance of the project saying it “will serve not only as the country’s collective thanksgiving to the Almighty for the blessings He has bestowed on our nation, 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 70-plus per cent of the population.”
According to him, “just like Sanballat and Tobias, in the days of Nehemiah, there are some who do not share my views on the building of the National Cathedral, I respect their right to differ but I am confident my decision, by the vast numbers of enthusiastic supporters of this project whose spiritual dimension is limitless”.
Budget allocation blocked
Meanwhile, the Trade, Industry and Tourism committee of parliament on Tuesday rejected the budget allocation for the construction of the National Cathedral.
The minority side of the committee won by an 11:10 majority decision to reject the GH¢80 million budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture for the National Cathedral of Ghana.
The allocation was contained in the Appropriations Bill of the 2023 fiscal policy of the ruling government.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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Great and insightful analysis!!!. However, when at all will it be appropriate to build such an edifice in honour of God??? When will there not be poverty and need in the land?? Since the days of old, the debate about the need to give God his due share of the glory has been waged. Even in the days of Christ his own disciple, even Judas, did not approve of the act of annointing and glorifying God with the most expensive perfume because, to him, that perfume could have been sold and the proceeds used to take care of the poor. Humans have never deemed it fit to ever recognise and honour God. The poverty and the need arguments have lingered on!! Jesus concluded the debate: the poor you will always have with you. This statement was made some 2,000 years ago and it is still relevant. I love God for he never lies!! Nana,build the cathedral, for the poor, we will always have with us!!!!
@ DAN you said it all.
Hmmmnnn, putting up a house in the name of God is nothing bad. The challenge is the current economic challenges facing Ghanaians. Currently we have schools without furniture, go to rural Ghana, you will see school pupils lying on the floor like lizards and learning. Go to some public hospitals, you will see patients lying like crocodiles on the bare floor waiting to be attended to, some sit on plastic chairs to receive drips. We have foodstuffs rotten away in rural communities due to poor and inaccessible roads. Some public schools don't have text books, some rural communities still do not have access to electricity and yet pupils from these areas will sit with their colleagues from urban areas to write BECE, same day, same time, same subject. The voice of the people is the voice of God. The president should better listen. The Basilica in Côte d' ivoire did not stop the conflict in that country, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo all have cathedrals and yet still they had the some of the worst conflicts. Indonesia is the most populous Moslem nation in the world. That notwithstanding they have some of the worse disasters ever recorded in human history. It's not a national national cathedral that will ensure a disaster or conflict free country. It's about the mind set of the people.