President John Mahama has said the Christian community in Ghana has the capacity to finance the construction of a National Cathedral without relying on taxpayers’ money.
Mahama argued that taxpayers’ money should not be used to fund the construction of a National Cathedral, disclosing that if Christians across the country contributed GH¢1,000 each towards the project, they could raise sufficient resources to construct the facility.
Speaking at a citizens’ engagement during his tour of the Upper West Region, President Mahama stated, “I made a promise that every policy and every project that I inherit, I will continue it as long as it’s in the interest of the people, and I have largely done that. Almost all the projects and policies we inherited, we have continued.
“The only one is the National Cathedral, but that was not a national policy. It was a personal pledge by the former President. It was a personal pledge by the former President to God. So that one, it wasn’t national policy,” he added.
Mahama further added, “I am a Christian myself. I have nothing against having a national cathedral”.
“My second problem was that we shouldn’t use taxpayers’ money. I mean, how many Christians are in this country? If we all pay 1,000 cedis each, we should be able to construct a national cathedral,” he added.
“My principle has always been that the location has been a problem,” he said.
“So normally during ceremonies, you have the stadium not far, and that’s the way we used to go to Black Star Square. So if you go and put this major thing there again, it will constrict that whole area,” he said.
“My problem was also that the amount of destruction we had to cause to clear the area; broke 10 judges’ residences.
“We broke the Malian Ambassador’s residence. Up to now, we’ve not replaced it. And several other properties, the old passport office, all of them were demolished to make way for a national cathedral,” he said.
He further revealed that the forensic audit into the National Cathedral project had been completed and was currently with the Attorney General, disclosing that a copy would be made available to the Christian Council to enable it to examine how almost $90 million was spent on the project.
“The forensic audit is ready; it’s with the Attorney General, and I’ll make a copy of it available to the Christian Council so that they can look at the processes of what went into the expenditure of the 90 million dollars, so that if there’s any corrective action, we can take it together,” he said.
Mahama’s comment follows the Christian Council of Ghana has announced the establishment of a technical committee to examine the future of the stalled National Cathedral project and recommend a way forward.
According to the Chairman of the Christian Council, Rev Enoch Nii Narh Thompson, the committee is expected to complete its work within a month and submit its recommendations to the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga.
Reports suggest the committee will bring together representatives from councils representing various Christian groupings, which will focus on some of the key outstanding issues, particularly the project’s funding and location.
Rev Thompson further disclosed that the Minister will study the committee’s findings before forwarding them to President John Dramani Mahama for the necessary decisions on the project.
Watch the video below:
"I made a promise that every policy I inherited, I would continue it as long as it's in the interest of the people. The National Cathedral… was not a national policy. It was a personal pledge by the former president." – President Mahama explains his reservations about… pic.twitter.com/OVUoB4gV1p
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