Dear Leader, and the grand gestures of religion
Promoted as symbols of national pride or piety, often announced in austere times, grand religious projects quickly become political liabilities – and monuments to mortal hubris.
Christine Mungai in Nairobi
Kenya’s President William Ruto offered “no apologies” earlier this month for planning to build a $9-million megachurch on State House grounds. He said he would be using his own personal funds to finance the project.
The Daily Nation broke the story by publishing architectural designs showing a large building with stained glass windows and capacity for an estimated 8,000 people.
The project has caused widespread uproar and is being challenged in court. A petition filed by lawyer Levi Munyeri argues that it violates the Constitution, which holds that there will be no state religion in Kenya, by putting a grand structure of Christianity at the seat of executive power. Munyeri argues the plan was not approved by Parliament nor by the Kenyan people, and that Ruto’s argument that he will use his own money to build it, “whereas bizarre, does not cure the unconstitutionality”.
A road too well travelled
Other African leaders have pursued grand religious projects – often with mixed results. In Ghana, former president Nana Akufo-Addo pledged to build a $400-million cathedral in gratitude for his electoral victory in 2016. Although originally promoted as funded by donations, at least $58-million of public funds have already been spent on the project. Eight years after construction started in 2017, all there is to show for it is a gigantic hole in central Accra, as Ghana grapples with its worst economic crisis in a generation.
In Côte d’Ivoire, former president Félix Houphouët-Boigny went even further, commissioning the world’s largest church in his hometown at enormous public expense. The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro, modelled as a replica of St Peter’s in Rome, cost an estimated $300-million when it was built in the 1980s – equivalent to almost $1-billion today – and was financed largely with state resources. It is the largest Christian church in the world.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mobutu Sese Seko constructed the luxurious Chapelle de la Miséricorde in Gbadolite, using state resources as part of his broader transformation of his hometown. Now, it lies in ruins, like most of the abandoned grand monuments of the Mobutu-era.
In Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika commissioned the Great Mosque of Algiers, the largest in Africa and third largest in the world: only those in Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia are larger.
It was inaugurated last year by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and features a prayer hall for 120,000 worshippers, the world’s tallest minaret (at 265m), libraries and museums. The project cost between $900-million and $1.5-billion and was entirely state-funded. Delays and cost overruns have found the state facing criticism for prioritising religious prestige over pressing social needs.
Morocco’s King Hassan II commissioned a grand mosque and named it after himself. Built with a mix of state funds and compulsory contributions from Moroccans, including direct salary deductions, it caused widespread public discontent.
Inaugurated in 1993, the Hassan II Mosque is now a defining symbol of Casablanca. Topped with a 210m minaret, the world’s second tallest, it has capacity for 105,000 worshippers.