GHANA’s government will investigate controversial plans to build a $400m (£330m) national cathedral, new President John Mahama has said.
Pressure has been mounting on authorities to drop the project, which has divided opinions in a country experiencing an economic crisis.
Former President Nana Akufo-Addo, whose party was voted out during December’s elections, had pledged to build the cathedral after crediting God for his party’s success in 2016.
Akufo-Addo’s government said the cathedral would be privately funded, but $58m of taxpayers’ money has so far been spent on the project.
There is nothing to show for this sum but a huge crater in a plot of valuable land in central Accra, previously occupied by state buildings, judges’ homes and financial firms.
Ghana is a deeply religious country, where 70% of people are Christians.
The National Cathedral of Ghana was envisioned to be a sacred space for all Christians, where national religious services could take place. It is also intended to house a Bible museum and a national conference centre.
At a thanksgiving service on Sunday, Mahama said: “The commission on human rights and administrative justice (CHRAJ) directed government to audit the project and investigate any misuse of public funds. We would soon activate such an investigation into the project.”
However, he did not rule out finishing the cathedral.
“We can reach a more reasonable figure for achieving such a project and together we can raise the funding for it,” he said.
“Such a reconsideration of this project might even include changing the current site that was chosen for the project. The project must be achieved at a reasonable cost, in the current circumstances that Ghana is going through, it makes no sense to achieve a project at a whopping sum of $400m.”
