National Cathedral: Put in your widow’s mite; God understands – Ofori-Atta
Despite the barrage of criticisms and reproval surrounding the construction of the National Cathedral, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has justified the latest release of public funds for the project.
According to him, even though the country was in hard times, building a cathedral for God is a prudent gesture.
“The Lord will understand if we put our widow’s mite in there,” he said in an interview on GTV.
Critics of the cathedral have said that Ghana is not a Christian state and, therefore, building a cathedral is a non-starter, and ought not to have been brought out in the first place.
Others believe that many problems confront the country, and constructing a national cathedral is never one of them.
Youth unemployment, maternal mortality, road accidents, and poor housing among others are issues that pose a threat to national security yet the government is determined in spending over 100 million dollars to construct an edifice for God.
“Ghanaian Christians have various places for worship, so they don’t need a place for service; instead, the security services lack accommodation, police officers share the same space with their belongings but the president supervised the demolition of judges’ quarters for the construction of the cathedral,” she argued.
According to the Member of Parliament, the drastic unilateral decision taken by the sector minister violates Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution, which dictates the processes involved in the withdrawal of public funds.
“Yes, I can speak authoritatively to the fact that this GH¢ 142.7 million, such a staggering amount, was not presented to parliament for approval. As you are aware, article 178 provides that no monies can be withdrawn from the consolidated fund. In other words, you cannot touch public funds if you do not have parliamentary approval.
“When you break the law, you have to be punished, and for public officials, one of the opportunities available to us in parliament is to remove them from office. That is why you have the vote of censorship where ministers are removed from office through that process,” he said in an interview with Metro TV monitored by theghanareport.com.
In his justification, the Finance Minister says, there is never money for anything unless it is prioritized.
“At any point in time when these buildings were built in Europe, was it ever the right time? How we fund it will become the question. Is the executive mindful of the current situation? We shouldn’t snuff out our religiousness or spirituality because we are poor. The Lord will understand if we put our widow’s mite in there.”
“The question being asked is that are we spending money from state coffers? Is that too much to do because we are politicizing it. Do we really want to stop it? That is going to be my question,” he added.
The national cathedral is expected to be the rallying point for the Christian community to convene to worship, pray and promote deep national conversations on the role of faith in building Ghana.
The magnificent cathedral proposed by the government in March 2017 is expected to cash in on the religious tourism industry valued at US$18billion.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo unveiled the design for the cathedral in March 2018.
At the time, he said the construction was in fulfillment of a promise he made to God in the run-up to the December 2016 elections.
The project, which renowned architect David Adjaye designed, was widely criticized and condemned by a number of Ghanaians who considered it a misplaced priority.
The condemnation deepened when the government demolished the residence of some Supreme Court judges in Accra to pave the way for the construction.
On 5 March 2020, President Akufo-Addo laid the foundation stone for the commencement of the construction.
The President assured that the cathedral would not just be another national monument adorning the skyline of Accra but a place of worship.
The project is estimated at an initial cost of $100million.