Broadcaster Blessed Godsbrain Smart, host of Maakye on Onua TV, has expressed regret over his contribution towards the building of the National Cathedral.
The broadcaster, after the sod-cutting ceremony for the project by President Akufo-Addo on March 5, 2017, donated some bags of cement towards its erection.
Following the act, many criticised him for carrying a cement to signify his support for the project when it became obvious that state funds were being used to build instead of the individual pledges as the President communicated earlier.
Despite his disagreement with government for spending taxpayers’ money for the cathedral which is his personal promise, the journalist has always said individual donations just as his was a worthy cause.
But years after the project started, it is still as its foundation stage as the time given by the government for commissioning dues in about three days time.
READ ALSO: Over ¢142 Blown On National Cathedral Project In 2021 – Auditor General exposes government.
Following the development, the Broadcaster, during the Monday, March 04, 2024 edition of Maakye indicated on his Fabewoso segment if he had used the 100 bags of cement he donated towards the project to build a house for his mother, that would have been better.
His comment comes on the back of the former Finance Minister’s promise to Ghanaians that the cathedral was going to be commissioned March 06, 2024.
Ken Ofori-Atta, while delivering the 2021 mid-year budget review in Parliament Thursday, July 29, 2021 said the Cathedral will be ready and outdoored in March this year.
But as at today, March 04, 2024, three years after the promise, the Cathedral is still at the foundation stage.
“The National Cathedral will be commissioned on 6th March right? We are waiting for them to commission it. We have spent so much money on this project and what we have is the most expensive hole in the world. I didn’t know the project was going to be an avenue for this government to waste our money. I should have used my cement to build a house for my mother,” he lamented.
About the National Cathedral
The National Cathedral project was proposed by the government in March 2017 as a physical embodiment of national unity, harmony, and spirituality.
The design for the cathedral was unveiled by the President in March 2018. At the time, he said the construction was a fulfillment of a promise he made to God in the run-up to the general election in 2016.
Addressing attendees of the ceremony at the construction site, President Akufo-Addo said he is determined to lead efforts aimed at ensuring the completion of the project in fulfillment of his pledge to God prior to the 2016 general elections.
“Rather, and again like Solomon on that occasion, the building of the National Cathedral is to serve as a gesture of thanksgiving to God for his blessings, favour, grace and mercies on our nation, and to give me an opportunity to redeem a pledge I made to Him before I became President,” he said back in 2018.
President Akufo-Addo cutting the sod finally for the construction of the edifice said: “As I indicated on 6th March 2017, upon completion, the National Cathedral is certainly going to be one of the iconic structures of the African Continent. Since gaining our freedom from the colonial power sixty-three years ago on the 6th of March 1957, Ghana has so far been speared civil war, famine, and epidemics.”
“We are certainly no better than the other nations in our neighborhood who have been confronted with these challenges. I believe it is by the grace of God that we have been preserved and sustained. The construction of the Cathedral will be an act of thanksgiving to the Almighty for His Blessings, Grace, Favour, and Mercies on our nation. Secondly, seventy-one percent of the Ghanaian people adhere to the Christian religion grouped under the various persuasions of the Christian Faith. The interdenominational National Cathedral will help unify the Christian community and thereby help promote national unity and social coercion” President Akufo-Addo added.
However, the Cathedral and its relevance or otherwise sharply divided opinions in Ghana. A lawsuit challenging state involvement in the construction of the edifice was also thrown out by the Supreme Court.
The design for the Cathedral was unveiled by President Akufo-Addo in March 2018 whilst actual work on the project was expected to began on Friday, March 6, 2020.
Source: OnuaOnline
