Supreme Court Decides On National Cathedral Today

The Supreme Court is set to deliver its ruling in suit challenging the construction of a National cathedral for the country.

The decision by the seven member panel of justices presided over by Justice Sophia Adenyira is expected to bring closure to the debate that greeted the construction of the national religious edifice.

James Kwabena Bonfeh aka Kabila following the announcement by the president, Nana Akuffo Addo sued the state over its decision to build the cathedral in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of independence of the country.

Lawyers of Kabila insist the posture by the government amount to unnecessary entanglement in religious matters contrary to the 1992 constitution.

Arguments

Earlier, Lawyers of Mr. Bonfeh, the acting General Secretary of the Convention People Party (CPP) are sure it is not the duty of the government to middle in religious affairs of the country.

He was emphatic not it is not the business of the government to build a national cathedral for the country.

“It’s not the business of the government to build national Mosques or shrines. Followers of religions build their own. Places of worship.” – he said.

In the view of Aziz Bambara, lawyer for the CPP stalwart, Ghana is a secular state for which reason the government must remain neutral and threat all religions equally.

Lawyer Bamba noted that there was no obligation on the state to provide any assistance to anyone religion.

Responding, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the deputy Attorney General argued among others that stated Lawyer Bamaba’s submission is riddled with contractions.

He questioned the claim by lawyer Bamaba that the government could not grant land it holds in trust for the people of the country.

He said there is no issue about of constitutional interpretation urging the court to dismiss the case.

Pack Outs

So far, nine Court of Appeal Judges whose homes were earmarked for demolition for the construction of the National Cathedral have relocated.

They are Justices, F. Kusi Appioh; Mariama Owusu; Clemence J. Honyenuga; Avril Lovelace-Johnson and Margaret Welbourne.

The others are Justices Saeed Kwaku Gyan; Lawrence L. Mensah; Gbiel S. Suurbareh and Anthony Oppong.

Occupants of other residential facilities in the enclave have also begun packing out their belongings following notices served on them to vacate the place even as the Supreme Court hears the CPP’s James Kwabena Bomfeh’s application to halt the process.

Other Homes

The government claims that it has rented alternative expensive bungalows for the Judges to relocate temporarily while it begins construction of over twenty new bungalows on a different land at Cantonments in Accra to be handed over to the Judicial Service in 2020 in replacement for what it is going to destroy.

The residence of the judges, the Judicial Training Institute at East Ridge, the Scholarship Secretariat and the Passport Office will have to make way for the 5,000-seater National Cathedral which has been a subject of public controversy.

Government wants the building constructed to mark Ghana’s 60th anniversary, explaining that it is to be used for formal state occasions of a religious nature, such as presidential inaugurations, state funerals, and national thanksgiving services.

The Cathedral will sit around a 14-acre garden and will have chapels, a baptistery, a music school, an art gallery, a Bible Museum and Documentation Centre.

Source: theconfidentialonline.com

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