Oppong Nkrumah speaks on National Cathedral payments

Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has stated that he does not have the details of payments made in respect of the National Cathedral.

According to him, though the cost of the Project has triggered widespread public reactions, he is unable to presently comment substantively on the matter.

Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM on Monday morning, he said, “this whole cathedral matter, I think has generated a lot of public brouhaha. I have honestly asked for a full brief to understand why we paid what at what point in time. So as I sit before you this morning, I don’t have a full brief to enable me to speak to that matter.”

He added that, “our understanding initially is that it was supposed to be put together by the churches and the private sector, with some seed support from the state. I don’t have a full brief on the details of how that has gone. So I’m not going to go into [that]”.

The comments by the sector minister comes in the wake of ongoing public discussions about the relevance or otherwise of the National Cathedral.

Following recent revelations about monies invested into the Project, scores of citizens have been divided over the relevance of the edifice.

According to a section of the populace, it is unnecessary for government to inject huge sums of money into the Project in the face of the country’s growing economic woes.

The critics have, therefore, advised that the state must pay attention to more pertinent issues such as the increasing rate of unemployment and the high cost of living.

Proponents of the Project have however argued that the National Cathedral will contribute to Ghana’s tourism dividends, therefore should not be discontinued.

Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. John Kumah, says the various criticisms against the National Cathedral have been orchestrated to cause disaffection for the Project.

Speaking on Newsfile on June 25, he told host, Samson Lardy Anyenini that the allegations raised against the Project are just ‘lies and propaganda’.

According to him, the country’s economic difficulties have caused many people to be emotional about the subject of the National Cathedral and are spilling false news.

“There is so much propaganda…people are throwing in all sorts of things lies. I just recently heard that we paid some $50,000 to Sonnie Badu for his appearance on one of the fundraising events for the National Cathedral which turned out to be false. He has come out to deny it. I believe people are doing this to cause disaffection for the National Cathedral”.

The Ejisu MP therefore urged the Christian community not to pay attention to the false allegations making rounds but to remain resolute and believe in the President’s vision to build the religious edifice.

“I would want to encourage us as citizens and Ghanaians especially, the Christians who see value in the National Cathedral. This is not the time to run away because somebody has raised concerns”, he said.