President John Dramani Mahama has directed the immediate dissolution of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana Project.

The decision was communicated to the Board in a letter signed by the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga.

The letter directs the Board to liaise with the project consultant and formally hand over the National Cathedral project site to the Ministry by October 31, 2026.

According to the Ministry, the handover will allow the government to assess the project and determine its future.

On behalf of President Mahama, the Minister thanked members of the Board for their commitment to promoting the Christian faith in Ghana.

The dissolution comes as the government considers its next steps regarding the National Cathedral project, which has been the subject of prolonged public discussion over its construction, funding and management.

How the National Cathedral started

Then-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo laid the foundation stone for the National Cathedral on March 5, 2020, accompanied by senior members of the clergy, to officially commence construction.

A National Cathedral Secretariat was subsequently established to mobilise funds from individuals and the private sector towards the construction of the edifice.

The Secretariat later announced the appointment of Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah as the new Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral project.

At the Presidency on Monday, February 8, 2021, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced the composition of the Board of Trustees and expressed satisfaction with the appointment of Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah as a replacement for the founding Trustee Chairman, Most Rev. Samuel Asante Antwi, who died on September 13, 2020.

In his acceptance speech, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah thanked the President on behalf of the Trustees for the opportunity to serve and pledged to work with the team to complete the National Cathedral.

He brought to the chairmanship extensive experience and service to the Church in Ghana, Africa and internationally.

Construction work halted

Meanwhile, construction work on the National Cathedral has come to a halt, with the project contractor, RIBADE Company Ltd, reportedly laying off more than 200 workers amid funding challenges.

The National Cathedral site, located on a 14.5-acre parcel of land near Parliament House in Accra, has remained inactive after the government reportedly spent about GH¢200 million on the project.

A letter dated March 14, 2022, signed by Project Manager Grant Ramsay and circulated on social media, instructed workers to return all project property in their possession to the Human Resource Office.

The letter explained that the decision was in line with provisions of the contract requiring the company to mitigate costs, particularly because it was not receiving funds for the project.