The Founding President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Mr Franklin Cudjoe says this is not the right time for Government to commit GH¢25million seed money into the construction of the National Cathedral and has therefore called for a halt in the construction of the Cathedral.
The National Cathedral project was proposed by the government in March 2017 as a physical embodiment of national unity, harmony, and spirituality.
The $350-million inter-denominational cathedral will have an auditorium capable of seating 5,000 people, as well as chapels, and a baptistery.
It is targeted to be completed in March 2024.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been criticised for his decision to build the National Cathedral in the face of numerous challenges facing the country but in his defence, the He said the construction is in fulfilment of a promise he made to God in the run-up to the 2016 election.
Earlier this month, the Government granted the release of GH¢25 million to the National Cathedral Secretariat as additional seed money for the construction of the National Cathedral.
A letter, signed by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to the Controller and Accountant’s General, directed that the money be credited to Ribade Limited, for part payment of outstanding claims.
“Authority is hereby granted to you to release the sum [of] GH¢25,000,000.00 as additional seed money to the National Cathedral Secretariat for the construction of the National Cathedral for part payment of outstanding claims from RIBADE Limited,” the letter added.
This did not sit well with many groups, and some of them, including IMANI raised their voice against the release of funds into the construction of the Cathedral.
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Speaking on Atinka TV‘s morning show, Ghana Nie with Ekourba Gyasi Simpremu, Mr Franklin Cudjoe, observed that many Ghanaians were already facing challenges that need to be addressed with money, saying that government should have rather used the money to solve the problems and not invest into the construction of the National Cathedral because it was not a priority.
“When we heard that the Ministry of Finance has sent over GH¢25 million to contractors working on the project, we felt this is not the time to put money into the construction of cathedral, because even though the government has suggested that it will take part of the bill, we are currently in challenging times and when you look, the government is telling us that times are hard and so we should contribute by paying taxes in terms of E-levy and we should also manage the money that we have and so if you have told us that, then what is the point of continuously funding a project that can wait,” he quizzed.
Mr Franklin Cudjoe continued that,”For us, we think the project funding should wait, it should be put on hold because it is not a priority. People are having issues dealing with school feeding, salary arrears for those who work with the youth sectors and we thought that it was not the best to use Ghana’s money for that at this juncture and whiles doing it too, you are doing it on the quiet and it is not the best. A project like this can wait, because it is not an important project.”
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori