Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, says the government will no longer spend public funds to construct the National Cathedral.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series at Jubilee House on Monday, October 5, Mr Ayariga said President John Dramani Mahama had also directed the dissolution of the National Cathedral Board of Trustees.
“Government is not going to put one single cedi into any further construction work at the National Cathedral site, so no government money is going into the construction of a National Cathedral,” he stated.
He said the withdrawal of government funding also meant the Board of Trustees, established to oversee the project, would no longer be relevant as an agency of government.
“And the President has also directed the dissolution of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, which was established to oversee the construction, and because we don’t intend to have government money going into it, we don’t think the Board of Trustees remains relevant as constituted as an agency of government,” he said.
Mr Ayariga also disclosed that the contractor had been directed to hand over the National Cathedral site to the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs.
The Minister said the government’s next steps would be guided by the Attorney General’s review of a forensic audit into expenditure related to the initial plans for the project under the administration of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
“The forensic audit that has been conducted into the expenditures related to the initial plans to construct the National Cathedral by President Akufo-Addo, and then based on the Attorney General’s advice, we know what the next steps are,” Mr. Ayariga added.
The National Cathedral project was initiated under the Akufo-Addo administration as a major national religious and infrastructure project and later became the subject of public debate over its financing, expenditure and progress.
