Mahama criticises $450m allocation to National Cathedral amid education challenges

Ghanaian

John Dramani Mahama, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, has criticised the Akufo-Addo-led government for allocating over $450 million to the National Cathedral project, citing significant challenges in the education sector.

During the "Building Ghana Tour" in the Upper West Region, Mahama expressed his disapproval, stating that spending such a substantial amount of taxpayers' money on

Read full articlea cathedral would not gain God's approval.

Mahama highlighted the president's personal pledge to build the cathedral, emphasising that public funds, initially claimed not to be used, were eventually allocated for the project. He questioned the rationale behind investing such a substantial budget in the cathedral project, especially when basic schools lack essential resources.

The former President emphasised the urgency of directing these funds towards education, particularly at a time when basic schools face resource shortages. Mahama raised concerns about the allocation of public funds for the cathedral project, especially given the government's expenditure on consultancy services.

"So far, 58 million dollars of public funds have been spent just to dig a deep hole, and you have to ask yourself, is it justified in this day and age when children don’t have desks in schools, when children do not have textbooks?" he quizzed.

"For five years, we have not provided our basic schools with textbooks even though we have come out with a new curriculum because we say there is no money, and you say we should use 450 million dollars to build a Cathedral, even God will be angry with us," Mahama emphasised.