A national fundraising programme is scheduled to be held in Ghana and later in the US for the building of a national cathedral, the Minister of Finance has stated.
The formal launch will first be held in Accra on Friday, December 28 while the second will be held in the United States in February, 2019.
The desire to build a national cathedral was expressed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo upon ascension to the presidency.
On March 6, 2017, precisely the 60th anniversary of Ghana’s independence, President Akufo-Addo cut sod for the construction of the national cathedral.
But critics had questioned the source of funding while controversy was stirred due to the demolition of property including bungalows of judges to make way for the monument.
A 13-member board of trustees to be chaired by Most Reverend Samuel Asante Antwi has been inaugurated to ensure the construction of the 5,000-seater-capacity edifice.
Mr Ofori-Atta observed that the president is determined to have the cathedral built and that it should not have any financial burden on the state.
“[President Akufo-Addo] has therefore proposed a partnership between the state and the Ghanaian Christian community both at home and in the diaspora.
“The formal launch of this national fundraising campaign is slated for December 28, 2018 in Ghana, and February 2019 in the United States.”
The partnership, the Minister of Finance believes, operationalizes and becomes a practical expression of “the social partnership envisaged to foster participatory development of country as our collective goal”.
The monument is expected to house chapels and baptistery.
It will be expandable to accommodate 15,000 people for national events.
Aside the main auditorium, it will include a music school and Africa’s first-ever Bible museum and documentation centre.
The state is contributing by providing the land and seed money for the preparatory phase.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana