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National Cathedral: Ofori-Atta Must ‘Shut Up’ Now! – Allotey Jacobs
Bernard Allotey Jacobs, a social commentator and former NDC Central Regional Chairman, has harshly upbraided Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, over his comments on the National Cathedral.
As opposition against the construction of the National Cathedral intensifies with critics calling on the President to either halt the project or use his own money to establish it, Ghanaians are however encouraged to support the President’s vision to complete the Cathedral.
National Cathedral Brouhaha
It could be recalled that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, prior to the 2016 elections, informed Ghanaians he had made a vow to God to construct a Cathedral in His honor in exchange for victory in the 2016 elections.
After the President’s prayer was answered, he was expected to fulfill his promise by financing the project himself, little did Ghanaians know their funds would be involved in constructing this religious edifice.
Up until recently when it came to light that the government was channeling part of taxpayers’ monies to build the Cathedral plus the call on all to contribute a quota towards the project, most of the citizenry were under the impression that the Cathedral was a personal pledge.
It is now obvious that the construction is now the collective responsibility of citizens and if the President’s promise will materialize, the taxpayer must accept for his or her money to be used.
Perhaps, it was no surprise that the North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, in a social media post on Wednesday, June 8, claimed that so far, ¢200 million “illegal” funds have been pumped into the project.
National Catheral Will Pay Off
The Finance Minister, over the weekend, sought to assuage the fears of Ghanaians about possible wastage of public funds.
According to him, government will ensure the monies pumped into the construction are recouped within the shortest possible time after construction.
“That question being asked is that are we spending money from state coffers? Is that too much to do because we are politicizing it. Do we really want to stop it? That is going to be my question.
“As a Minister of Finance, we are looking at resources and how much we put in there at every point in time that is sensible and so as we speak, we have spent less than one-thousandth of our expenditure on that,” the Minister said on GTV‘s Talking Point.
He added; “I am very confident of raising revenue to be able to fund this and then more importantly if I want to look into the economics of it, I truly see an overwhelming capacity that this will pay off. Typically, I am looking at an internal rate of return, so we should put this in mind.”
Allotey Replies Ken
Discussing the matter during Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” programme, Allotey Jacobs asked Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta to “shut up” on the project.
He believes it will be more prudent if government interacts with the populace on whether or not to halt the construction or carry on with it.
“Government has flip-flopped on the issue of this Cathedral, so it will better for Ken Ofori-Atta to keep his mouth shut and not talk about it. And even should the government decide to suspend this project, they should consult with the people of this country”, he said.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
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Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
