The fire that ravaged the iconic cathedral Notre Dame in Paris, France has indeed caught world attention.
What with the Queen of England, the Presidents from almost every European country and Donald Trump sending heartfelt condolences and the extensive media coverage this has received? However, The response to the Notre Dame fire by some African leaders has brought mixed reactions and outraged some on the continent.
The President of Guinea, Alpha Conde’s pledged of 2 million Euros for the reconstruction of the Notre Dame. Has left a bitter taste in many a mouth. Conde has been accused of the highest level of hypocrisy by opting to splash out millions to France as opposed to helping out the impoverished in his own backyard.
In a bid to be counted and recognised among the rich who have been contributing towards the reconstruction of the famous Catholic Cathedral in Paris which was gutted by fire on Monday, 15th April 2019.
President Alpha Conde joined in to to add his name to the list of billionaires who have pledged to support the rebuilding of the over 850 years old Cathedral. Meanwhile, Ghanaians took to social media app twitter, to blast President Akufo Addo for caring more about validation from his white friends than the ordinary Ghanaians.
This comes after President Addo, tweeted his condolences to the French people and their president Emmanuel Macron, hours after the fire gutted Notre Dame.
Some Ghanaians questioned this act of the President especially when he had not tweeted about the flood that caused havoc to some parts of Accra earlier on Sunday. What irked some Ghanaians was that President Addo chose to tweet condolences to France, where not a single soul lost his or her life in the Notre Dame fire outbreak and yet the president chose to ignore 5 Ghanaians who lost their lives as a result of the Sunday flood in his own country.
While these African presidents elected to play politics and appease their erstwhile colonial masters Belgian footballer, Jason Denayer has called out Billionaires who have pledge €600m to rebuild Notre Dame. According to Jason Denayer, donating such huge amounts of money to help rebuild the Cathedral is a wonderful gesture.
He however think it’s a shame Billionaires don’t do the same for starving children around the world. “A wonderful gesture but a shame that they don’t do the same for the thousands of children dying of famine.” – Denayer Jason Denayer is a Belgium Footballer who plays as a defender for Olympique Lyon in the French Ligue 1.
