Politics, accountability and the unfinished national cathedral
When former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced the building of a national cathedral as a gesture of thanksgiving on both a personal (victory in the 2016 election) and country level (God’s blessings on Ghana), no one anticipated the outcome being grappled with today – an unfinished cathedral, heavy financial investment of state resources and calls for accountability.
What happened along the way?
Politics of the cathedral
How did building a house for God become so entangled in politics, even as citizens debated whether it was the right national priority when it was announced or its potential to boost tourism for the country?
Two drivers come to mind. First, it was the former President’s linking, in part, the building of the cathedral to his 2016 election victory. It immediately set a partisan tone for a project meant to symbolise gratitude for God’s unending blessings on Mother Ghana.
Second, the politics intensified, with the famous phrase that emerged - “Cathedral no de3 y3 b3 si.” To wit, “As for the cathedral, we shall build it.”
This phrase became a partisan rallying call for those who supported the President’s decision to build a cathedral and the backhanded response to critics who regularly raised well-intentioned concerns about the unfolding nature of the project.
Were all critics of the cathedral project non-NPP sympathisers? No. And were all supporters of the project NPP sympathisers? No.
But it became extremely difficult to separate our usual partisan politics from the cathedral project.
Eight years later, the unfinished cathedral project remains a lightning rod for partisan politics.
In the aftermath of Government Spokesperson, Felix Kwakye Ofosu’s briefing on July 18 and the subsequent release of the full audit report by Deloitte and Touche, our partisan temperaments have emerged with debates even over matters such as the difference between audit reports and financial statements.
Misplaced demand for accountability?
Setting aside the contents of the Deloitte and Touche audit report for a minute, here is what I think about the calls for accountability. If there is any basis for demanding accountability, it begins with how the true nature of the state’s involvement in building the cathedral changed and expanded over time.
In the beginning, the only state investment as announced was the donation of land with the assurance that it would be solely financed by private donations.
In fact, it was this well-articulated limited involvement of the state by the Attorney General that I believe persuaded the Supreme Court to rule in 2019 that there was no constitutional violation in terms of separation of church and state.
I strongly doubt the Supreme Court will rule the same way today, as it did in 2019, if it knew the state’s involvement would be this expansive. I could be wrong.
As time has passed, with revelations of increased involvement from seed money to substantial payments, it is only proper for well-meaning citizens to simply ask, “how did we get here?”
I recently asked a very good friend of mine who campaigned strongly in 2016 for the former president to reflect on this – beyond our partisan sentiments, is there not a legitimate reason to find it concerning as citizens, seeing the unfinished cathedral project and the amount of taxpayers' money spent on it, especially when this was not meant to be the case when it was first announced?
Perhaps, we as citizens have watched our taxes, over many years, being spent on numerous unfinished and abandoned projects, to the point that our national conscience has become numb to such occurrences.
And if we can find examples of taxpayer money spent on unfinished projects or other financially costly administrative decisions made by our political opponents, then we become even more numb.
But this is a dangerous situation for citizens, and that is why calls for accountability are justified. In my view, demanding accountability does not necessarily mean searching for those responsible for wrongdoings, even though that can be a result.
Accountability is also about seeking satisfactory answers.
When those answers are unsatisfactory, those responsible for official duties are further required to undergo additional accountability processes.
Where do we go from here?
Now, back to the Deloitte and Touche audit report, which I have read.
Whether partisans believe it exonerates and absolves or convicts all persons officially involved in the project, there are important “red flags” we should not ignore as well-meaning citizens.
Those “red flags” call into question administrative decision-making that falls short of the best practices of good governance.
Today it is an unfinished national cathedral.
Tomorrow, but I hope not, it may be another more costly unfinished project.
We cannot discount those from the past.
But for how long will this cycle continue?
The writer is the Director, Democracy Project.
