Cathedral Ghana: Ghana is experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis that has worsened in recent years. The economy is plagued by rampant inflation, a weakening currency, and mounting debt. The precarious situation of the Ghanaian economy can serve as a lesson for other countries on how not to handle their own economies. It is unclear how and why the Ghanaian government has disregarded the hardships of the citizens and their increasingly harsh living conditions, instead prioritizing costly obsessions even at the expense of driving the economy further into the ground.
Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo’s Cathedral plans
Ghana’s economy is in crisis, but worry not a Cathedral is coming up. Not just any other Cathedral, a multi-million dollars Cathedral.
In the midst of this crisis, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, renewed his commitment to the National Cathedral of Ghana, despite mounting costs of living and economic hardship for common Ghanaians. President Addo appears to be naively optimistic about the situation, thanking the “almighty” for his blessings on the nation and citing God’s sparing of Ghana from a conflict that has afflicted other West African countries.
The National Cathedral is envisioned to be a sacred place for all Christians, who make up 70 percent of the population, and where national religious services could take place. Furthermore, President Addo announced a personal donation of 100,000 cedis ($8,000; £6,700) towards the construction costs.
However, his enthusiasm for the project has divided public opinion. The average Ghanaian is left hoping that God listens and their economic conditions improve, but the government’s focus on the cathedral raises concerns about its priorities and ability to effectively address the economic crisis.
Controversy around Cathedral in Ghana
Though most of the costs are supposed to be covered by donations, critics have questioned the amount of money – $58m – that the government has so far spent despite the ongoing economic turmoil. The project is also beset by allegations of misappropriation of funds and questions over the awarding of the design tender to celebrated British-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye, who had been appointed without an open competition process. Opposition MPs have also alleged that Adjaye Associates was “ sole-sourced” for the project and appointed without following public procurement law.
Adjaye Associates was appointed by the office of the president in 2019, on fees worth £17 million, or 10.5 percent of the expected total project cost. The expected project cost was originally around £180 million for the project but is thought to have risen since.
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Further serious allegations were raised that Adjaye Associates was set to receive further state funds for extra design work to integrate a bible museum and biblical gardens into the project and that none of the money spent on the National Cathedral of Ghana has been approved by the Parliament of Ghana.
However, despite the opposition, the allegations, and the economic crisis, it seems nothing will stop the construction of the multi-million dollars project in the debt-ridden West African nation, as Paul Opoku-Mensah, the presidential appointee leading the National Cathedral project is still confident that it will in fact “boost the economy” and declared that completion is dependent on their ability to raise the needed resources.
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The Ghanaians have to decide whether such vanity projects are necessary for an economically struggling country because the government’s unnecessary expenditures have also led the country to IMF, which will put the citizens in further economic hardships that Ghanaians are currently experiencing.
