On March 6th, 2017, Ghana’s president, Akuffo-Addo, announced plans to construct a 5,000-seater capacity cathedral in Accra, to honor God. Although the state has been involved in religious affairs over the years, the president’s plans to build a cathedral takes this engagement a notch higher. In addition to broaching questions of religious diversity and elevating Christian religion over others, issues of appropriate dissipation of national resources dominate discourse on the cathedral project.
This talk problematizes the ongoing project and suggests politicians hijacking of religion for political gains. Drawing on preliminary research, the talk advances the claims that religion provides unbridled benefits to those who know how to harness it; Ghanaian politicians invoke God to enforce political ideologies and control the masses.
