Josiah
The Hypocrisy Of The People Isn’t Funny Anymore As Our Silences Are Most Deafening… Where Did We Get It All So Wrong?
“One of the most controversial personal presidential campaign promises of the last thirty plus years has been the pledge by the then candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to himself that he will build a National Cathedral to the Lord our God, when he is voted into office as the President of the Republic.
“Launching the National Cathedral Fundraising Campaign on Friday, 28th December 2018 at the forecourt of the State House, Accra, two years after his 2016 electoral victory, President Akufo-Addo said as pertained to Solomon’s dedication of the first temple to God as taught by the Bible, saying he knows that God cannot be contained in a physical edifice. (GhanaWeb)
“Rather, and again like Solomon on that occasion, the building of the National Cathedral is to serve as a gesture of thanksgiving to God for his blessings, favour, grace and mercies on our nation, and to give me an opportunity to redeem a pledge I made to Him before I became President,” he said.
“The president made a personal contribution of GH₵100,000.00 towards the construction of the edifice at the event. (GhanaWeb)
“The National Cathedral, the president explained is more than just another piece of infrastructure or national monument.
“It will provide us with an avenue to call the nation to prayer, to worship, to celebrate, and to mourn. It will house a Bible Museum and will be an iconic infrastructure for national, regional and international pilgrimage and tourism. It will create jobs, and serve as a catalyst for technology and skills transfer into our country,” President Akufo-Addo stressed.
He continued, “The Cathedral will also provide a platform to promote deep national conversations on the role of faith in building the progressive and prosperous Ghana we all want. I am convinced that out of these conversations would emerge the ideas and values that should help us build a new Ghanaian civilization. This is the basis on which I identify it as a personal priority.” (GhanaWeb)
“Reiterating his earnest wish that the building of the National Cathedral should not be a burden on the state, President Akufo-Addo noted that it was for this reason that the Christian community, home and abroad, is being mobilized in partnership to raise the needed resources to build the Cathedral.
Whilst respecting the views of those who differ with him on the matter of the construction of the Cathedral, the President indicated that: ‘I am comforted in my decision by the vast numbers of enthusiastic supporters of this project, whose spiritual dimension is limitless.” (GhanaWeb)
“The President was confident that ‘like the statement of the Prophet Nehemiah in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, it is Almighty God who will prosper us and make us succeed in this endeavour. I am confident of the support of the Ghanaian people for this coalition of churches, corporations and individuals in bringing this project into fruition.” (GhanaWeb)
THIS DEFINITELY WAS A PERSONAL VOW TO GOD BY NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, A GHANAIAN & AN AKYEM, IN THE PURSUIT OF HIS PERSONAL SOLEMN PROMISE IN THE FORM OF AN OATH TO GOD THAT, SHOULD HE BE ELECTED AS THE 5TH PRESIDENT OF THE 4TH REPUBLIC OF GHANA, HE WILL, BY A PERSONAL INITIATIVE FOR TOTAL FUNDS MOBILIZATION, BUILD A CATHEDRAL TO HONOUR GOD.
“Called the ‘Cathedral of Scandals’, the planned US$400m supposedly now state-funded church has become hugely controversial in Ghana even as the country pursues an IMF loan due to huge debts and economic woes. (Aljazeera)
“About 700 metres (765 yards) from Ghana’s Parliament sits one of the world’s most controversial craters, a hole surrounded by weeds into which USD$58m has already been sunk for the building of an interdenominational national cathedral. (Aljazeera)
“I (PERSONAL) made a pledge to almighty God that He was gracious enough to grant my party, the NPP, and I victory in the 2016 elections after two unsuccessful attempts, so I will help build a cathedral to His glory and honour,” President Nana Akufo-Addo said at the sod-cutting ceremony in 2020. (Aljazeera)
“The interdenominational national cathedral will help unify the Christian community and thereby help promote national unity and social cohesion,” he said. (Aljazeera)
“But construction of the president’s pet project, due to cover 3.5 hectares (9 acres) of prime Accra real estate, has stalled since June due to lack of funds. If it weren’t for the cranes and artistic impressions of the project surrounding the construction zone, it could pass for an abandoned illegal mining site.
“Ghana, a major cocoa producer and leading exporter of gold, is facing its worst economic crisis in decades and has racked up a debt of US$45bn by the end of November 2023. (Aljazeera)
“The cost of living is high in the West African state with inflation hitting a record 54 percent in 21 years. Rents, fuel and transport prices have risen, and about a quarter of the population live below the poverty line, according to the United Nations Development Programme and the Ghana Statistical Service.
“Funding for the national cathedral has been shrouded in secrecy, but last year, the secretariat in charge of the project said the cost, initially estimated at US$100, has now quadrupled due to inflation.
“While presenting the 2019 budget to parliament, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta promised the cathedral would not “put financial burdens on the state”.
“He said most of the costs would be covered y donations and the government was providing only the land (which is at great costs with compensations to be paid amidst litigations) and an unspecified amount of ‘seed money for the preparatory phase’. (Aljazeera)
“However, that has not been the case. Most of the US$58m spent so far has come from the national coffers, Ofori-Atta himself told parliament when it summoned him in November for censure hearing.
“A month later, parliament blocked a budget allocation of US$6.3m that the government had wanted to continue the project even as Ghana struggles to restructure its debt to qualify for a US$3bn loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Strategic Project Or Misplaced Priority
“The government argues the cathedral will bring enormous long-term economic benefits while transforming Ghana into a religious hub, creating jobs and accruing more revenue for the state.
The plan is for the cathedral’s 5,000-seat, two-level auditorium, which could be expanded to have an additional capacity of 15,000, to serve as a sacred space and facility for national events like state funerals and presidential inaugural services. It would also be home to Africa’s first Bible Museum and Documentation Centre. In addition, the cathedral would have a music school, an art gallery, shops and a national crypt for state burials. (Aljazeera)
I have gone to this extent, copiously to place the whole subject of the matter into proper perspective for all of us to appreciate what the issues are against the different contexts, especially as I have been fascinated by all the shadow boxing skirmishes going on round about us.
We all seem to be missing the real intent of the arguments and or the noises, considering the fact that the majority of Ghanaians are Christians and therefore such an enterprise, worthy as the underlying primary motive is – ‘building a house for the Lord’.
The real issue is that we were all hoodwinked by NADAA, after he had made a purely UNSOLICITED PERSONAL, PRIVATE & PARTY PLEDGE to the Lord our God that:
“…if the Lord was gracious enough to grant my party, the New Patriotic
Party (NPP), and I victory in the 2016 elections after two unsuccessful
attempts, so I will help build a cathedral to His glory and honour”.
This has nothing to do with the people (excluding the NPP, its executives & family and friends of NADAA), the state, other political parties, their national, regional, district and local executives as well as their registered memberships; and he could not have made any such pledge for and on behalf of anybody else.
Sincerely, I can understand NADAA and his pledge as well as the efficacy of this kind, from eternity to eternity and in the affairs of all religions, most importantly, the Christian faith; such pledges work and why NADAA and his party, NPP won the 2016 National Elections.
Throughout the Old Testament, Kings who have invoked the power behind the financing and building temples for the Lord our God have always used personal wealth and riches and not from the taxes and resources of the state and or kingdom.
King David had throughout his war exploits with all the booties, after his soldiers had received their shares, kept them till he became King of Israel and then he was instructed that he should leave the building of the first Temple to his son, Solomon to execute (reference the books of Kings and Chronicles) – “I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God…” 1 Kings 5:5 and “Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the Lord…” 2 Chronicles 2:1.
Furthermore, the Book of Ezra records King Darius issuing a decree for the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 5:13-15) after he had encountered the prophet Daniel and releasing his personal resources for the work with the support of his rich elders.
At no time did Kings Solomon and Darius use state resources for the either building the Temple on the promise of King David and or the request of Prophet Daniel; and therefore, NADAA got it all wrong with the approach of committing US$58m state funds to create the ‘world’s most expensive crater’.
I am most petrified by not only the insensitivities of the President and his party, the NPP on whose behalf the pledge was made but the deafening silences of Ghanaians, particularly the clergy and civil society, on the colossal state debt any future government is going to inherit, considering.
For a start, we should, as a people and as a state, begin to explore how we are going to block the payments of all gratuities plus all other benefits to be owed all members of NADAA government for the two terms (2017-2025) by way of garnishment, including all properties located across the globe.
We need to use this to set the precedents for how to deal with the political class as to corruption and other infractions, mindful that the final indebtedness for us as a nation and as a people to retire will include the compensations to underwrite the costs of all properties destroyed in order to prepare the site for the construction of the proposed National Cathedral.
Need I say more…
By Magnus Naabe RexDanquah, the Ghanaian
