By Nadia Ntiamoah
The long-standing controversy surrounding the National Cathedral project has taken a new legal and political twist as the Attorney-General’s Department has formally defended the government’s funding of the project in a case before the Supreme Court.
The latest development comes amid heightened public scrutiny, allegations of financial mismanagement, and the recent dissolution of the project’s Board of Trustees following an explosive audit report.
In a statement filed before the Supreme Court, Attorney-General Dr. Dominic Ayine dismissed claims that government financing of the National Cathedral violated Article 179(11) of the 1992 Constitution.
The case, initiated by private citizen Jonathan Amable in 2024, alleges that funds from the Consolidated Fund were used for the Cathedral’s construction without the necessary parliamentary and Council of State approvals.
Amable is seeking a declaration that the payments were unconstitutional and wants all monies withdrawn for the project refunded to the state.
The Attorney-General, however, argued that the payments in question were lawfully made under the Contingency Vote, categorized as “Other Government Obligations,” and not from the Contingency Fund as alleged by the plaintiff.
According to Dr. Ayine, this distinction is crucial, as the Contingency Vote is a legitimate budgetary allocation approved by Parliament for unforeseen government obligations.
“The National Cathedral is 100% owned by the State,” the AG’s statement read. “Indeed, the Attorney-General issued an opinion on January 6, 2022, affirming that the National Cathedral is a state-owned company limited by guarantee under the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board.”
He further stressed that the project’s financing and policy direction had been transparently presented to Parliament through annual budget statements since 2018, when the government first introduced the Cathedral as part of its national development agenda.
Dispute
The National Cathedral project, initially proposed by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as a symbol of national unity and spiritual renewal, has since become one of the most divisive public projects.
The government committed to providing land, a secretariat, and seed money, while encouraging private and church-based contributions to complete construction.
However, over time, concerns over opaque procurement practices, questionable payments, and ballooning costs eroded public trust in the project’s management.
By mid-2025, a leaked Deloitte & Touche audit—presented by Minister of Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu—revealed that nearly $97 million in public funds had already been expended on the Cathedral, with little visible progress beyond an empty excavation site.
The audit cited irregularities, including a GHS 4.9 million payment to architect Sir David Adjaye & Associates Ltd without full documentation, over $523,000 paid to a U.S. fundraising firm after its contract expiration, and an unexplained GHS 2.6 million loan repayment to JNS Talent Centre Ltd, a company linked to then-Board Member Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng.
In response, the Board of Trustees, led by Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, accused the government of misrepresenting the audit findings.
The Board claimed the Minister’s press briefing selectively referenced the “Management Letter” of the audit—an interim report of audit queries—without including the Board’s official responses. This omission, the Board argued, painted a distorted picture of mismanagement and misconduct.
Legal Fallout
Following the public dispute, President John Dramani Mahama’s administration in July 2025 directed the Attorney-General to dissolve the National Cathedral Board and terminate all ongoing contracts.
The Cathedral Secretariat, which had operated under the Office of the President, was officially shut down on May 1, 2025.
Despite this, investigations by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) into alleged financial impropriety are still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Amable’s constitutional suit also extends to other financial decisions by the former government, including the controversial $10 billion COVID-19 Relief Bond transaction between the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana.
He contends that the transaction breached Article 181(4) of the Constitution, which regulates public borrowing.
The Attorney-General, however, insists that the COVID-19 bond fell within the lawful fiscal measures adopted to stabilize the economy during the pandemic.
According to the AG’s Department, the bond issuance was part of the Bank of Ghana’s asset purchase programme, which was duly reported in fiscal policy statements.
