The 2024 flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has criticised the allocation of $450 million towards the National Cathedral project while challenges in the education sector remain unaddressed, stating that it will not receive God’s approval.
The former President argues that the project, considered as a personal commitment by President Nana Akufo-Addo to God, should be funded by individuals who align with its vision.
He made these remarks during a gathering with religious leaders in Wa as part of the “Building Ghana Tour” in the Upper West Region.
“The President said that he made a pledge to God that if he won the election he would build a Cathedral for him. So it is his personal pledge and if he wants to build it, he must gather people who support that conviction to build that. And we were told that public funds were not going to be used for the Cathedral”, he said.
The former President also rebuked the government for relying on public funds to finance the project.
“But eventually, we found that the Minister of Finance was releasing public taxes. We can’t use public funds including the funds of people of other denominations to build a Cathedral for Christians alone”, he added.
“So far, 58 million dollars of public funds have been spent just to dig a deep hole and you have to ask yourself is it justified in this day and age when children don’t have desks in schools when children do not have textbooks?”, he added.
The former President believes it would have been more prudent to allocate the funds earmarked for the cathedral project towards supporting education, especially considering the government’s expenditure on consultancy services and other expenses for the project.
“For five years, we have not provided our basic schools with textbooks even though we have come out with a new curriculum because we say there is no money, and you say we should use 450 million dollars to build a Cathedral, even God will be angry with us,” he concluded.