Churches will abort support for National Cathedral if they are asked to contribute – Manasseh Azure

National Cathedral: Timing of GH¢25 million release worrying, Franklin Cudjoe

GH¢25million allegedly released for construction of National Cathedral

National Cathedral to attract tourists, Government

Investigative journalist, Manasseh Awuni Azure has projected that some religious entities will withdraw their support for the construction of the National Cathedral if they were asked to contribute monies for it.

It

Read full articleis unclear why he makes the projections but some social media users agree with him.

“Many churches will stop supporting the National Cathedral if they are forced to give part of their income to build it.”

The National Cathedral project, according to government, is to construct a pace of worship and serve as a centre for various religious functions.

It will also serve as a tourist site when it is completed.

However, many have questioned the relevance of such a project, especially at a time when the country is facing harsh economic challenges.

Meanwhile, a document dated March 31, 2022, signed by the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, with the title “Seed Money for the construction of the National Cathedral” revealed that some monies are already being disbursed for construction works on the Cathedral.

“Authority is hereby granted you to release the sum of 25,000,000.00 (Twenty-Five Million Ghana Cedis) as additional seed money to the National Cathedral Secretariat for the construction of the National “Cathedral for part payment of outstanding claims from RIBADE Limited,” portions of the document shared read.

Earlier, President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe lamented the timing of the government’s decision to embark on the construction of a National Cathedral.

In an interview with Citi News, he also lamented the opaque nature of the said transactions. “The timing of this contribution is quite worrying. To think that we have all the challenges we have right now and to dish out GH¢25 million?

"The fact that we do not have clear details as to which companies are benefitting and whether they procured the services correctly and all of that, is quite worrying,” he stressed.

“Just tells you that the person crying that we should tighten our belts is, unfortunately, being wasteful. I do not know where we are going to get our monies from. It will short-change some other expenditure plans that we already must have approved,” Mr Cudjoe added.