President Akufo-Addo says his two election victories in December 2016 and 2020, are purely as a result of the grace of God and not an effort of his own.
According to the president, ahead of the 2016 election, he committed the contest into the hands of the Almighty God when he declared to the people of Ghana that “the battle is the Lords”, and as a result of the Grace of God he won the election with a record vote difference.
He made this disclosure when he addressed his audience at the Museum of the Bible’s inaugural Africa lecture on Thursday, 5 May 2022, held at the Museum of the Bible (Motb) in Washington, D.C. The United States of America.
“I have been in the maelstrom of public life in Ghana for 45 years, that is most of my adult life. I had been dissatisfied with the condition of life of the majority of our people, and that is why I have struggled to get the opportunity to do something about it.”
“The story of my struggles to become president of my country are well known. My experiences have been a testimony of God’s love, and a vindication of the words of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, in the Gospel according to St. Matthew, chapter 19 verse 26…” President Akufo-Addo said.
Three attempts
Emphasising his presidential election history in Ghana, the president noted; “It took three tries between 2008 and 2016 for me to get elected. By which time, the popular catchphrases of ‘Akufo-Addo cannot be president’, ‘God does not want Akufo-Addo to be president’, “Akufo-Addo is short, and does not have the stature to be president” had become so prevalent, you had to be firmly rooted in your faith to have had the courage to persist.”
He added, “I committed that third election campaign to God, and indicated to the Ghanaian people that “The Battle is the Lord’s.”
“By God’s grace, I won a famous victory against an incumbent president by a gap of nearly a million votes, the largest margin of victory for two decades.”
“And, by the same grace, I won re-election in the December 2020 elections, and I am now in my second and last term as president,” Akufo-Addo said.
A case for the National Cathedral
The president in his nine-page lecture, made a strong case yet, for the decision of his administration to build the National Cathedral.
According to the president, his Christian faith is the motivation for one of the major projects (the National Cathedral), which he has described in the past “as a priority of priorities,” that is being “undertaken in the country”.
“The National Cathedral addresses a missing link in our nation’s architecture by providing a formal space for the religious activities of the state.”
“Designed by the iconic global Ghanaian architect, David Adjaye, who designed the National Museum of African American History and Culture here in Washington DC, the National Cathedral provides an interdenominational space for worship and will serve to insert God at the centre of our nation-building efforts,” Akufo-Addo said.
Bible Museum/ Biblical Garden
President Akufo-Addo observed that the State and Church collaboration responsible for the construction of the National Cathedral have decided to integrate “a Bible Museum and Biblical Garden as part of the project”.
“Dubbed the Bible Museum of Africa, and Biblical Gardens of Africa, they extend the National Cathedral project, which will transform Ghana, over 70% of whose population are self-proclaimed Christians, into a major centre of Christianity in Africa,” Akufo-Addo noted.
“The work of the Bible Museum and Biblical Gardens is being led by Cary Summers, the indefatigable founding president of the Museum of the Bible, and the world-class project team that worked on the Museum here.”
“The Bible Museum of Africa will represent a key development in African Christianity,” he added.
“Seeking to replicate what is here (the Washington Cathedral), it explores the history, narrative and impact of the Bible. However, its distinguishing character would be its special thematic focus on ‘Africa and Africans, in the Bible’, and ‘The Bible in Africa’.
“It will help illustrate the neglected role of the centrality of the Coptic Church in Egypt and the Christian Church in Ethiopia in the early development of global Christianity” the president further stated.
According to the president, the National Cathedral “will also provide the history of the Church in Africa as well as in the African Diaspora. For the African Diaspora, it will tell the redemptive history of the misuse of the Bible to dehumanize the African and justify his or her enslavement, and the paradoxical deployment of the Bible as a redemptive tool to build community and leadership for the civil rights movement in the Americas”.
“The history, roles and impact of the Black Church would also be told, offering the Diaspora a pathway – mediated by faith – to reconnect with Africa, 50% of whose population, i.e., 650 million people are Christians”.
“The National Cathedral of Ghana and the Bible Museum of Africa will also serve as a convening platform for National, African, and Global conversations on the role of the Christian faith in contemporary times” President Akufo-Addo further stated.
Building partnership
President Akufo-Addo as part of his lecture, solicited the support of his audience “to bring this transcendental project to fruition”.
He indicated that the “construction of the project in Accra, led by a committee of the prominent Christian leaders of the nation, has begun in earnest.”
“I am of the firm belief that, as much as possible, the building of the National Cathedral and Bible Museum should not be a burden on the State,” the president said.
“That is why we are mobilizing the Christian community, home and abroad, and other well-meaning persons, to join us in partnership to raise the needed resources to complete the project”. We seek to build this partnership on the rich history of the Church’s involvement in Ghana’s development. Ultimately, the goal is to build an international coalition in support of the project.”
“This will be a historic coalition, and the names of its supporters will be written in gold in the annals of our history and in the annals of Christianity!” he added.
