Professor Ransford Gyampo, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, has proposed an unconventional method for raising funds to reclaim the land used as the foundation for the National Cathedral.

During a panel discussion on TV3, Professor Gyampo argued that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should bear some personal financial losses for his involvement in the National Cathedral’s construction. To reclaim the land, Gyampo suggested that the state should freeze President Akufo-Addo’s ex-gratia and use the funds for the reclamation process.

While acknowledging the questionable legality of his own suggestion, Gyampo emphasized that President Akufo-Addo should be held accountable for the expenses incurred on the National Cathedral project. He further stated that the President and his ministers involved in the allocation of state funds for the Cathedral should be sued for causing financial loss to the state.

“Somebody must be sued for the construction of the National Cathedral. Somebody must be sued for causing financial loss to the state. President Akufo-Addo must suffer some consequences, so if possible for us to freeze his gratuity to be used in paying for the covering of the Cathedral, let’s do it. If that is not enough, then we sue him and his appointees,” he asserted.

The National Cathedral, which President Akufo-Addo has described as a ‘priority among priorities,’ has stalled due to a lack of funds. Reverend Victor Kusi Boateng, the Executive Secretary of the Board of Trustees for the National Cathedral, stated that approximately $250 million is needed to complete the Cathedral.

“If we could raise an amount of $200 million to $250 million, the National Cathedral will be completed. Let’s look at the advantages the Cathedral will bring to Ghana and its financial benefits as a nation. God has blessed us, we need to come together and thank Him.”

Reverend Boateng compared the costs, highlighting that the Washington Museum’s construction cost $600 million. He emphasized that Ghana’s Cathedral, along with its Biblical Museum and Biblical Gardens, is projected to cost around $300 million, which is more cost-effective yet larger in scale than the American Bible Museum.

“All costs together, our Cathedral, Biblical Museum, and Biblical Gardens is just around $300 million, and ours is bigger than the American Bible Museum that costs $600 million. If you look in-depth into the data, you realize that although $300 million is money, compared to the $600 million, we’ve done well.”