Feature: Nkrumah, Jesus and Allah A Mausoleum, a Cathedral and a Village

The previous government spent $3.5 million of state funds to renovate the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, and we heard no sound nor cryor any form of protests from the NDC and Nkrumaists.

Then it embarked upon the construction of a national cathedral, which would have united all Christians in Ghana, who are made of over 25 million people out of the over 35 million Ghanaians.The National Chief Imam on behalf of Muslims, supported this project with a donation of GH¢50,000.00.

Unfortunately, there was an outcry when it came public that the cathedral was being funded with the use of state funds. NDC Christians led other Christians to go on the rampage, coming out boldly to discredit the construction of the cathedral. And they even misquoted Scriptures to demonise the project.

Some of the criticismswere however justified, because of the perceived corruption going on in the execution of the project.But there was no constructive criticism.

The committee managing the project were from among the top eliteof the Ghanaian clergy. When it was perceived, that funds were being diverted by some of these ‘hallowed’men, some of the innocent ones left the group to continue their anointed duties as shepherds of their flocks.

One thing however did not take place. None of the deserted clergymen came out to tell us, the Gentiles, why they left the project. And none of those saintly ones remembered the Bible passage in Galatians 2: 11, when Paul publicly rebuked Peter in the face for his inconsistencies, so no one rebuked anyone. It may be that they believed in the cocktail of Matthew 7:1 and Psalm 105:15, which rather sounded more like this “do not judge; touch not my anointed ones and do my prophets, no ‘shame’!”

Or did they momentarily become Catholics and heard the private confessions of their sinful colleagues, andabsolved their sins by saying, “your sins are forgiven, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Go and sin, here, no more?”

This page came out with suggestions that the churches alone can raise funds to construct the Cathedral which was estimated to cost $400 million and be jointly owned by all the Christian churches.

Can we look at things this way? Assuming that twenty-five per cent of the total Christian population regularly attend church, with each of them donating at least GH¢10.00 monthly, GH¢62.5 million would have been realised in a month, or GH¢750 million ($131 million) by the year ending 2020 and that could have settled the cost of the foundation and maybe, get the construction to go above floor level.

Using end of year dollar rates for 2021 (GH¢6.18), 2022 (GH¢10.20), 2023 (GH¢11.20) and 2024 (GH¢14.78) plus current rate of GH¢15.49projected as same by end of year, the total donation to be made by Christians who always attend church will amount to $492 million. The project would have completed and paid off without state funds. The National Cathedral project has stalled to this day because of lack of funds.

Instead of accepting the concept of a National Cathedral and coming out to make better alternative suggestions about its site and funding, the NDC and Nkrumaists used that opportunity not to heal the nation but to divide it further apart.

They loudly kept silent over the $3.5 million used to modernise Kwame Nkrumah’s tomb. Then it dawned on Ghanaians that most Christians on that side of the divide, revere and honour Nkrumah more than they do, Jesus Christ; believing he was the real Christ who will make them seek the political kingdom and all would be added unto them. The only quotation from the Sacred Scriptures which they hold to be true is Matthew 22:21 which to them, Christ asked them to give unto Nkrumah what belongs to Nkrumah; and sotheybelong to Nkrumah body, soul, mind and spirit.

After all,to them, Nkrumah is the only founder of this nation and so anything on national scale must be given to him. So, just as the Spirit of God hovered over the waters (Genesis 1:2) during the creation of this earth and universe, to them, so did Nkrumah’s spirit hover over the members of the Gold Coast Aborigines’ Rights Protection Society in 1897, to inspire them to begin the struggle and take steps towards our independence. That was twelve years before Kwame Nkrumah was born.

The National Cathedral saga gave birth to the perception that never will the state commit funds or even show support and give approval to any project undertaken by any religion in Ghana.

Ghanaians who are very religious seemed to separate religion from state and politics, so that if the chief fetish priest of Akpatsakokoe, opens a new and very modern shrine, the DCE will not be the guest of honour neither will he be physically present at the function.

So, it seemed to be the new accepted order, until the NDC arrived. After condemning the idea of funding and constructing the National Cathedral with state funds and making it a mortal sin, the NDC was the last group of people to lead a government to fund the construction of any religious edifice with state funds.

Ghanaians woke up to another shock from the NDC, when H.E. John Dramani Mahama, in Season 1 Episode 3 of the series of “The Value is the Same,”was heard saying that he was going to build a Hajj Village for Muslim pilgrims on the airport grounds. And he made it clear, unlike his predecessor who first told us he was going to use his wages and proceeds from his family’scocoa farms to build the cathedral but it turned out that it was taxpayers’ pocket change he used, H.E. John Mahama told the truth and shamed the devil and made it known that every Ghanaian, home and abroad, Christian and Muslim, traditionalist and atheist will pay something small for the construction of the Hajj Village, which we are told is designed as a little smaller version of Kotoka International Airport’s Terminal 3.

The Hajj Village will include a mosque, an ablution area, accommodation, a health centre, a market, catering services, immigration desks, and check-in counters.

Truth must be told, how can such a building which will have, a large mosque, a hotel, a hospital and a market the size of Malam Attamarket, be a smaller version of Terminal 3?

Ghanaians must brave themselves, because this project can exceed the projected cost of the construction of the National Cathedral. And government is saying the funds will come from Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL), so Ghanaians should relax. But funds from these institutions are state funds. This is the same kind of excuse the NDC gave when asked to explain how a terminal at our airport could cost ten times more than an airport built from scratch in Ethiopia. We must look at more than $600 million for this Hajj Village.

But the main issue is not the cost of the Hajj Village, but for the turn-around from condemning the construction of a Christian National Cathedral with state funds for the majority Christians, to fully funding the construction of a Hajj Village for the minority Muslims with state funds.

Razak Opoku on March 3, 2025, in his article, in the Ghanaian Chronicle entitled, JustifyingThe Use Of Public Funds To Construct A Hajj Village?was spot on when he described President Mahama as playing double standards; for in breath he said the National Cathedral should be built without recourse to public funds and in another he said the permanent Hajj Village will be built with public funds.

Christians go for pilgrimages all year round, but do not have even a lounge at the airport to receive them.The Muslims go on pilgrimage once in a year but they deserve a Hajj Village which will become productive less than a month in a year. Seriously, should Christians not start thinking of having a Pilgrimage Village at the airport?

I am not against the construction of the Hajj Village, but what is confusing Ghanaians now is that how can the NDC Christians turn the minds of Christians in this country, against a national cathedral, because it was state funded, but are now going to build a Hajj Village with state funds.

Such a magnificent edifice with an imposing mosque to be located at our airport, could only stamp an Islamic state status on Ghana, when we are not. With over 71%Christians, Ghana should have state edifices to stamp Christ on this country, as a Christian state, either directly built by the state or by a church and ‘nationalized’ by the state, as in the case of the Washington National Cathedral in the United States.

If it is now okay for the NDC to use state funds to build a Hajj Village including a mosque, then this government have no excuse not completing the National Cathedral.

Slowly some Christians are turning Ghana into an Islamic state with a Muslim minority. Our Foreign Ministry has a department for pilgrimages, yet it is only Islamic pilgrimages that are made top priority national issues.

A Hajj Village, should be accepted by all, and so must a National Cathedral and Antoa, Nogokpo and other traditional shrines must become revered national heritage sites.

On the other hand, why doesn’t the government scrap this idea of Hajj Village and build budget hotels at the airport, as proposed by the late Hon. Kofi Adda, then Aviation minister? During Hajj pilgrimages, the hotels should only be open for Muslim pilgrims. Then for the rest of the year, they could serve passengers with accommodation. If a Hajj Village at all cost, the question is who will be maintaining it? Is it the state or the National Chief Imam’s office?

For peace in our land, every religion should be respected.

Hon. Daniel Dugan

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