The Christian Council of Ghana has established a technical committee to explore the way forward for the stalled National Cathedral project.
The committee will comprise representatives from councils representing various Christian groupings and is expected to examine key issues surrounding the project, particularly its funding and location.
Chairman of the Christian Council, Rev. Enoch Nii Narh Thompson, said the committee would also consider other matters relevant to the future of the project.
“We have concluded that a technical committee will be composed by all the councils representing the various Christian groupings and that this council will within a month discuss all the issues regarding the practical dimensions of funding and location and any other things pertinent to the National Cathedral Project,” he said.
Rev. Thompson said the committee is expected to complete its work within a month and submit its findings and recommendations to the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga.
The recommendations will subsequently be forwarded to President John Dramani Mahama to guide decisions on the future of the project.
“We will within a month present to the honourable minister the findings of or the recommendations of these technical committee for his study and then onward forwarding to the President of the Republic for the necessary decisions to be taken,” he said.
The Council expressed hope that the process would help resolve disagreements that have surrounded the project and bring an end to the uncertainty over its future.
“We are hopeful and trusting that these things will help to bring a conclusion to this matter that has lingered for a while over our national polity as a people,” Rev. Thompson said.
The National Cathedral project has been mired in controversy since its inception. Announced in March 2018 by then-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as a personal promise to God following his 2016 election victory, the project was envisioned as a “physical embodiment of unity, harmony and spirituality”.
The proposed design, by British-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye, included multiple chapels, a baptistery, a 5,000-seat auditorium, a music school, an art gallery, and Africa’s first Bible Museum, to be situated on a 14.5-acre site near Independence Square, the Osu Cemetery and the Accra Sports Stadium.
An audit of the National Cathedral Secretariat’s operations over 2021-23, completed by Deloitte and Touche in May 2025, uncovered a litany of financial irregularities, procurement breaches, and a “general lack of due process.
Following the audit, President John Dramani Mahama dissolved the secretariat in July 2025, effective May 1, and instructed the Auditor-General to conduct a comprehensive forensic audit. The government also tasked the Attorney-General with taking legal steps to lawfully terminate the National Cathedral contract
At a recent meeting with the Christian Council, Minister Mahama Ayariga stressed the need for consensus within the Christian community on the project’s location, cost and financing.
The establishment of the technical committee is expected to provide a platform for the various Christian groupings to examine those issues and agree on recommendations.
The committee is expected to begin its work immediately, with its recommendations due within a month before they are submitted to the minister and subsequently to the President.