Building Cathedral when ministers travel abroad for medical treatment is stupidity – Kwaw Kesse to govt

Ghanaian hiplife artiste, Emmanuel Kofi Botchwey known in showbiz circles as Kwaw Kese has described a decision by government to construct a National Cathedral as “stupidity” when the country lacks proper medical facilities.

This follows reports that Finance Minister-designate, Ken Ofori-Atta was flown to the United States of America on Sunday, 14 February 2021, to seek medical treatment for post-COVID-19 complications.

According to the artist, it is stupid to invest over USD100 million in the construction of an edifice while government officials have to travel abroad for treatment when they fall ill.

In a video that has gone viral on social media, the artist bemoaned the construction of the edifice at the expense of a proper medical facility for the country.

He said: “Imagine a small country like Ghana, we can use USD100 million and over to build a church, cathedral , but we can’t get USD100 million to build a proper medical hospital, or a proper medical centre so that when our Finance Minister is sick, he can go there.”

“They would rather go to America, go to UK, go to South Africa when they’re sick. But use over 100million to build a church.

He added: “This is stupidity to the highest level that we’ll use all this money over USD100 million to build a church but when we’re sick we travel outside.

“This stupidity is making our nation rot.”

President Nana Akufo-Addo has been sharply criticized over the project with many arguing that it is not a priority project taking into consideration the country’s developmental needs.

But the president, in indirect responses to the criticisms, insisted that the state will not fund the construction but rather it has facilitated the process by offering the land in question to be used while stressing that the decision to build a national cathedral was a pledge.

The cathedral will accommodate close to 20,000 Ghanaians during national programmes such as swearing-in of presidents-elect, state burials and major Christian programmes among others.

At the moment, the National Theatre, which is Ghana’s most preferred edifice for use in national activities, can only accommodate 1,400 Ghanaians.