National Cathedral: How an Appeals Court Judge resigned over the demolition of his residence

Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has revealed how in 2018, a judge of the Court of Appeal, had to resign when the administration of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo insisted that his residence had to be pulled down to make way for the construction of the National Cathedral.

The Judge, he noted, resigned after unsuccessfully resisting the plan to demolish his residence and that of others so that the National Cathedral Project could commence.

“When the Akufo-Addo government notified judges in 2018 that they will have to vacate their official bungalows as he was going to demolish them to pave way for the construction of his cathedral which he personally promised God, some of the judges were absolutely furious and fought back.

Unfortunately, the affected judges didn’t get the support they expected and had to capitulate. In protest, a distinguished and unblemished Appeals Court Judge, Justice Saeed Kweku Gyan resigned. His resignation has been a great loss to justice delivery in Ghana. This was a judge the Ghana Bar Association conferred a rare honour at its 2012/2013 Annual General Conference, celebrating him for his “uprightness and will to resist corruption in the discharge of his duties,”‘ he revealed.

In 2018, some 10 six-bedroom bungalows housing Court of Appeal judges were demolished as part of a massive demolition exercise in order that the construction of the National Cathedral could begin. The judges were given temporary accommodation.

In recent times, the construction of the National Cathedral has been brought to the fore following revelations that the Government has so far sunk some GHC 200 Million of taxpayers’ money into the project despite previous assurances that the project was not going to be funded by Government beyond the allocation of land and some seed money