Convert National Cathedral to Ga State University – Orstin Rawlings

The President of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), Ghana, Mr. Abednego Orstin Rawlings, has urged government to convert the National Cathedral to a Ga State University to end the controversy surrounding the project.

He pointed out that such a move will directly benefit the entire nation and the African continent as a whole.

He strongly believed that the Ga State University would be more acceptable to all Ghanaians and thereby end the endless debate over the National Cathedral project.

Mr. Rawlings indicated that the non-partisan university would bring honour and respect to the Greater Accra House of Chiefs and also eliminate the feud between the ruling NPP government and the opposition NDC party regarding the religious edifice.

He suggested that the proposed university could be named after the Ga State, while 70 per cent of ownership should be given to the Greater Accra House of Chiefs and the Ga Traditional Council.

“The whole Greater Accra Region belongs to the Ga Traditional Council but the custodians of the land cannot boast of any major institution, hence the need to honour them with this new project,” he explained.

“According to research the Ga language alone has over half of the Ghanaian population speaking it but the Greater Accra House of Chiefs and the Ga Traditional Council has nothing that rakes in revenue to the good people of the Ga state.

“The promised National Cathedral project must be re-designed into a befitting educational facility and named the Ga State University in honour of the Greater Accra House of Chiefs and the Ga Traditional Council,” Mr Rawlings stressed.

Mr Rawlings said the Ga State University could be likened to the University of the District of Columbia which is situated in the heart of Washington, D.C, and is the largest public university with an enrollment of 5,110 students annually, as well as the oldest black university.

“It is also the District of Columbia’s sold land-grant University,” he noted.

“So what are the gains from governance to the Greater Accra House of Chiefs or the Ga Traditional Council since independence?” he questioned.

Mr Rawlings entreated the Town and Country Planning Department to allocate a new site for the National Cathedral project outside the capital where all Ghanaians would be comfortable with so they could willingly contribute to support it.