National Cathedral should not be financed by the taxpayer – George Opare Addo

The National Youth Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) George Opare Addo has questioned the rationale to use public funds to build the national cathedral when the President made a personal pledge to his God.

He said the project should not be financed by the taxpayer.

Speaking on the New Day show with Johnnie Hughes on Wednesday June 22, he said “This is a personal pledge by the President” therefore the tax payer should not pay for this.

Meanwhile, the National Cathedral Secretariat has clarified that the construction is a public project, not private.

Bringing finality to the debate as to whether the project is state or privately owned, the Secretariat in a statement on Friday, June 17 said “In his first official announcement on the project on March 6, 2017, the President underscored the nature of the project as a national cathedral for interdenominational worship services for the nation.

“Subsequent elaborations led to three main reasons as the rationale for the project, namely i) gesture of thanksgiving ii) symbol of the Christian presence and contributions to the nation, and iii) a personal pledge to God. Of these three reasons, the personal pledge came to be associated with the Cathedral as a “private” project that needed to be developed without state support.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the National Cathedral is a National Monument, and thus a public, not private, project. Legally, the National Cathedral of Ghana is a state-owned company limited by guarantee and was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179) on July 18, 2019.

“We hope this brings to a closure the seemingly vexatious issue of whether the National Cathedral is a private or public initiative. The National Cathedral is a National Monument and Asset, and not a Private project. It is however being developed in partnership between the state and the church,” a statement by the Secretariat on Friday, June 17 said.”

Source: 3news.com|Ghana