Dr. Mark-Oliver Kevor, the Eastern Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has endorsed the Trades Union Congress’ (TUC) suggestion that the National Cathedral project be turned into a hospital.
Dr. Kevor predicts that the NDC will carry out this plan if elected to power in the general election of 2024.
“If we still debate whether to spend more than $1 billion on a national cathedral, it shows that as a nation we have no priorities.
“If he (President Akufo-Addo) does not do it, I think the following NDC administration would. You represent the aspirations of the people when elected to office. On the Badwam show on Adom TV, he said, “You do what the majority of the people want.
He said the opposition party would pay attention to the protests of most Ghanaians against the proposal.
“The TUC General Secretary referred to Notre-Dame, a cathedral in France that was constructed 182 years ago, not within a single presidential term.” A cathedral in Spain has been under construction for 138 years.
“You may have the idea, but you refuse to spend more than $300 million on constructing a national cathedral.” Ghana needs a $3 billion loan from the IMF right now. Do you think the IMF will be happy if they find out about this? he questioned.
According to Dr. Kevor, several districts would have health facilities if the money currently allocated for the National Cathedral was transferred to the Agenda 111 initiatives.
What number of hospitals have been constructed? It’s not as if we’ve reached a point where we can declare our health system ideal. Even so, we haven’t arrived yet.
“Several districts across the country would have newly built health centers,” he said. “If they pumped the money they have used so far into the Agenda 111 project,”
Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah, the general secretary of the TUC, advised the government to stop funding unnecessary projects like the National Cathedral when speaking during the Bolgatanga May Day parade in 2023.
He recommended that the project’s conversion from a cathedral to a national hospital would benefit the nation more.
“As Ghanaians, we must take action to improve the situation. We have a strong belief that the government can help us get out of this crisis, and the government can do this by reducing spending on non-essentials like building a national cathedral.
“The president has consistently said that he wants to build a second Notre Dame in Ghana so that we can draw lots of tourists, but we disagree.” “The initiative should actually be turned into a national hospital, comrades,” he remarked.