Julius Kwame Anthony is Press Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior
Press Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, Julius Kwame Anthony, has criticised the push to complete the stalled National Cathedral project, saying the government should not be pressured to treat the project as an emergency.
Speaking on Joy Prime, monitored by GhanaWeb on September 9, 2026, he criticised the approach adopted by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo towards the project, arguing that the country’s developmental priorities should be carefully considered.
“The government of Ghana should not be pressured to build cathedrals as an emergency the way President Akufo-Addo was treating it,” Julius Kwame Anthony said.
He urged church leaders to consider the prevailing circumstances in the country when advocating for projects such as the National Cathedral.
“I would always show deference and respect for the leadership of the church in Ghana because they play significant roles when it comes to their partnership with government in terms of development.
“What I want the leadership of the church to also do is to be able to read the mood of the country when it comes to certain developmental issues and not only interpret things from only the concept of spirituality and making sacrifices,” he stated.
He questioned the decision to present the National Cathedral as an urgent national priority, particularly at a time when the country was facing economic difficulties and shortages in critical infrastructure and social services.
“Because this whole idea, where you go about telling the people of Ghana that the ultimate sacrifice they must make, necessarily, is to treat a cathedral as an emergency, a monument unto God.
“In the presence of, especially at the time when they started this conversation, economic hardship, which is now only subsiding. In the presence of lack of critical national infrastructure. In the presence of lack of critical social services to the people of Ghana,” he remarked.
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He said the church leadership had failed to sufficiently consider the mood of the country and had therefore misplaced its priorities.
“I believe, with all respect to them, that they are not reading the mood of their country very well. And their priorities, I would respect, are misplaced,” he said.
His comments follow calls by the Christian Council of Ghana for the government to put aside political differences and support efforts to complete the National Cathedral, a project initiated by the previous government.
JKB/BAI
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