The newly elected Ghana President, John Mahama, has declared plans to probe his predecessor’s contested $400 million National Cathedral project.
The stalled religious landmark was highlighted by critics as a symbol of fiscal irresponsibility.
Media Talk Africa recalls that Mahama and his National Democratic Congress, NDC, won the December election after voters ousted President Nana Akufo-Addo and his ruling New Patriotic Party, NPP, over alleged economic mismanagement and high living costs.
It was gathered that the National Cathedral, envisioned by Akufo-Addo as a tribute to God for his 2016 electoral victory, was initially billed as a privately funded initiative.
However, there are allegations that $58 million public funds had been spent and allegations of financial impropriety triggered public outrage.
Ghana’s Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, CHRAJ, late last year had recommended an audit into the project, citing procurement breaches.
“We will soon activate such an investigation,” Mahama said at a thanksgiving service this week.
While he did not rule out completing the cathedral, he hinted at a more modest approach, noting that any decisions moving forward will prioritise accountability and national interest.
Media Talk Africa gathered that the cathedral, which is set on a 23,000 square metre site in the heart of Accra, was designed to include a 5,000-seat auditorium, chapels, a baptistery, a choir school, an art gallery, and multipurpose spaces.
However, three years after construction stalled, the site remains a gaping crater.
Some argued that the project contributed to the electoral defeat of Akufo-Addo and his NPP party in December.
The project’s suspension comes as Ghana struggles with an economic crisis exacerbated by high inflation, mounting debt, and a reliance on a $3 billion IMF bailout to stabilise the economy.
New Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, recently told Parliament that public funding for the cathedral had been halted as part of broader efforts to curb wasteful expenditure.
“The government cannot justify pouring scarce resources into an unfinished project when Ghanaians are struggling to afford basic necessities,” he said.
