The Akufo Addo administration is targeting one million Ghanaians to donate GHC 100 each every month to build the irksome National Cathedral which has been characterised by deceptive narratives and has been christened “Cathedral of Lies”.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta announced the Mafia-like call to action during his mid-year budget presentation and saying the objective is to get about a million Ghanaians contributing towards the construction.
The government has already set up a Short Code *979# on all the mobile telecom networks to collect the donations.
The Akufo Addo administration’s call for this unprecedented donation is coming at a time prices of goods and services are skyrocketing due to a less than par economic management; and with the government’s refusal to significantly increase salaries in sync with the increasing cost of goods and plethora of nerve-racking taxes slapped on citizens, a call for a Ghc100 monthly donation is more or less extortion.
Mr. Ofori-Atta said the Cathedral is expected to be commissioned on March 6, 2024, adding that “this state and church partnership envisaged by the president to develop the National Cathedral is on course. An initiative; the GHC100 a month also dubbed “Ketoa Biaa Nsua” will be launched by the trustees of the National Cathedral on August 12, 2021, to give as many Ghanaians as possible the opportunity to be part of the history of the National Cathedral.”
This is a far departure from the earlier impression created by the government that it had already secured private donors ready to foot the majority of the bill to construct the controversial cathedral.
The government had claimed it will provide some US$20 million in seed capital plus an additional US$ 30 million or more for the 14-acre high-end location where land cost over US$ 1 million per acre and the rebuilding of multiple state-owned buildings destroyed to make way for the cathedral.
The announcement by Ofori-Atta has therefore sent Ghanaians into an angry spin as social media goes ablaze with harsh criticisms of the misplaced priority of the Akufo Addo administration.
It is unclear how long the fundraising will last, but at GHC 100 from 1 million Ghanaians monthly, the Akuffo Addo administration will be collecting some GHC 100 million monthly.
Instead of using that amount to construct a religious building for Christians, this amount could construct all the Senior Secondary school infrastructure and eradicate the shift system that the government has been forced to adapt to counteract the influx of students taking advantage of the Free SHS policy.
In just six months, the amount set to be raised for the cathedral could construct the more than 88 hospitals and health posts that President Akufo Addo promised to construct last year and woefully failed to put up a single one.
Meanwhile, the cathedral is a personal vow of President Akufo Addo to build a cathedral for God in celebration of his presidential victory in 2016.
The government vehemently denied committing state resources to the personal covenant, but then, the Akufo Addo administration turned around and cunningly committed state resources to pay cronies to construct the cathedral.
It is now extorting money from overburdened citizens to fulfill his vow as it becomes more uncertain what further toll the cathedral will have on Ghanaians.
Whatsup News has gathered that the antics around the “Cathedral of Lies” is draining national resources and the patience of the citizens is running out on how many more sacrifices they would be compelled to commit to pacify Akufo Addo’s god.
