Like Sanballat and Tobias, some don’t share my view of the National Cathedral – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has indicated that his determination to complete the National Cathedral of Ghana remains undented despite calls by several Ghanaians for the project to be halted.

Speaking at the centenary celebration of the Ga Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in Accra on Sunday, December 18, 2022, the president likened the objection of some Ghanaians to the Cathedral project to the opposition of two characters in the Bible, Sanballat and Tobias, who in Nehemiah Chapter 4 opposed the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

Akufo-Addo added that the project will be a worthy thanksgiving to God, who he said has delivered Ghana from the COVID-19 pandemic and any political upheaval.

“Just like Sanballat and Tobias in the days of Nehemiah, there are some who do not share my views on the building of the National Cathedral. I respect their right to differ, but I am confident (of) my decision, by the vast numbers of enthusiastic supporters of this project whose spiritual dimension is limitless.

“(The Cathedral) will serve not only as the country’s collective thanksgiving to the Almighty for the blessings He has bestowed on our nation, sparing us the ravages of civil war that have bedeviled the histories of virtually all our neighbours and the outbreak of deadly mass epidemics,” the president said.

He added that the National Cathedral of Ghana is “a rallying point for the entire Christian community of Ghana, which represents 70-plus per cent of the population”.

Meanwhile, Parliament's Trades and Industry Committee has suspended the approval process for an amount of GH¢80 million allocated for the construction of the National Cathedral.

Tamale Central Member of Parliament, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, who disclosed the development to Accra-based JoyNews on December 13, said the suspension will be in place till justification for the allocation is made.

“What the Committee decided was that we cannot just approve this GH¢80 million, we must know how the other GH¢339 million was spent. What did it constitute?

“The GH¢80 million you want us to approve, how did it find space in the budget line of the Ministry of Tourism when the Minister and the directors could not speak to the questions we were asking? What constitutes the GH¢80 million, they should give us a breakdown,” he stressed.

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