The longest Serving Minister of Finance, Prof. Kwesi Botchway has advised the President Nana AkufoAddo administration to spare Ghanaians the burden of contributing to the building of national cathedral.
He said building national cathedral was not the immediate priority of the Ghanaian populace to win them out of the current economic hardship.
According to him, Akufo-Addo must not worsen the plight of the already burdened Ghanaians with his supposed convernant with God to put up a cathedral.
“If you made a covenant with God that you will build a cathedral, that should be your own private burden and not the people’s burden”, he posited.
It would be recalled that the National Cathedral Secretariat in defense for the GH₵100 donation announced by the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Attah during the Mid-Year budget presentation on Thursday July 29, 2021, admitted the initiative was from them and not government as being suggested by some.
The secretariat insisted that the mobilisation of funds towards the construction of the National Cathedral is not a part of government’s programme but an initiative it has introduced.
The Secretariat says the facility is only supported by government as it spearheads its own fundraising activities under the leadership of the Board of Trustees.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Secretariat, Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, insisted that the initiative was not from government, but rather “It was an update of the fundraising we said was going to happen, and it is not only happening, but it has become this creative process where new initiatives are introduced”.
However, Prof. Kwesi Botchway said the building of national cathedral was a promises made to God by president Akufo Addo thus should be his private activity as well as the land must be a private one and all funds must not come from the public purse.
He therefore advised that instead of the cathedral the president should have built people’s park where different types or artisans would learn skills.
