Akufo-Addo's promise of National Cathedral cannot be a personal pledge

The president of Ghana, Nana Addo, has come under fierce attack by the opposition National Democratic Party and some known media houses. Joynews’ Kojo Yankson took Akufo-Addo to the cleanest by chiding him for ignoring the plight of Ghanaians at the expense of a cathedral. He sought to say that Akufo-Addo’s promise cannot be representative of the views of Ghanaians but his own. The Honorable Okudjeto Ablakwa had suggested that the government's determination to fund the National Cathedral is a stab in the back of Ghanaians who are suffering under the current government. He further suggested that the president might end up in Hell for erring in his decision to fund the National Cathedral with the state’s money whilst the masses are wallowing in poverty and despair.

I found it very intrigued about how these media houses and the opposition NDC could situate discussions on the Cathedral around the president and seek to discredit him for his intention to do something for God. First of all, the National Cathedral cannot be a personal promise of Akufo-Addo as they had suggested. Akuffo Addo as the president of Ghana is a supreme leader of the country and is the spiritual leader through whom God, Principality, Powers and other spirits communicate to Ghanaians or talk to Ghanaians. So if prior to becoming a president he decides to think for Ghana about how we can get a commonplace for merging our faith to worship the “ONE GOD”, it cannot be described as a personal promise. When the president cut the sod for the construction of the Cathedral he indicated that the edifice is to thank God for his mercies upon the nation and fill in the missing link of the national architecture of not having a National Cathedral. I find it very surprising that the government’s commitment to contribute funds to the construction of the Cathedral could be greeted with indifferences to the level of such backlash.

We all agree that the country’s economic situation is wobbling but we cannot sum up our challenges and pretend that 25million cedis are needed to feed every child on the street as Kojo Yankson of Joyfm seeks to paint. It is highly unfair since everyone knows that successive governments had failed to address the problems of the country adequately. Indeed, NABCO, National Service personnel and some other sectors’ workers are yet to receive their remunerations. The government indeed need enough money to bail out ailing sectors of the economy but is also false that 25million cedis are needed to resolve all these chronic issues. In the Bible, David had a desire to build a house for God not because it was his promise but as a dedication to God for his mercies on behalf of the nation. What Nana Addo did was not different from the biblical footprint of David’s actions. Importantly, the National Cathedral is going to be an asset to Ghana, a kind of tourist attraction boost for the nation. All proceeds that will culminate from the use of the cathedral after its construction come to the nation’s coffers. So if government invest in his construction, he knows that the monies are not going to waste but will be recouped back into the economy. So simply, it is a form of investment.

We must thank the President for this single vision and initiative and not count Ghana’s problem as though the National Cathedral’s money is the only money Ghana needs to solve her numerous problems. We pray for a better Ghana and we also pray for God’s blessings upon the nation even as we build a Cathedral in his name.

BY Isaac Ofori

Educationist, Motivational Speaker, Student