Adomako Kissi: Handing over National Cathedral to church will be wrong

Dickson Adomako Kissi, the MP for Anyaa-Sowutuom, has kicked against calls for the government to hand over construction of the National Cathedral to the church in Ghana.

Kissi was speaking in reference to a call by the Christian Council of Ghana for the government to allow the church to take a lead role in the cathedral project.

Appearing on Asaase 99.5 Accra’s news analysis show The Forum on Saturday (21 January), Dr Adomako Kissi said making the cathedral a government priority is strategic.

“How do we hand over a government property to the church? It’s a misnomer,” Adomako Kissi said. “We ought to make our constitution work very well. They can have a supervisory role but I really think it should be for the state.

“Moving forward, before another penny or pesewa is spent, our focus should be making it a government property. Whether we swim in money or not, this project cannot be completed under the current regime. Let’s be very realistic,” he said.

Handover National Cathedral to Churches

The Christian Council of Ghana this week urged the government to hand over the construction of the National Cathedral to the church.

The general secretary of the Christian Council, Reverend Cyril Fayose, argues this will avoid unnecessary politicisation of the project.

The MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, earlier petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate issues of conflict of interest surrounding the cathedral project.

Speaking in an interview with Asaase News, Fayose said the church is better positioned to manage and complete the national project.

“My understanding from the beginning is that it was the responsibility of the church to build this cathedral, except that along the line all things came into play, and we realised government was pumping a lot of money into it.

“My candid opinion at this point is that we should revert to the original idea of the churches building the house of God, I think we should revert to that idea and leave out the state,” Fayose said.

“If it is a church project, it is not affected by changes in government,” he said. “So, we can take as long as possible to build this cathedral, and I believe the church in Ghana is so strong that we can build this cathedral.”

Fred Dzakpata