The government has disclosed National Cathedral audit findings, revealing that the total cost has soared to $97 million—up from the initial estimate of $58 million.
An additional $39 million is still owed to the contractor, while daily costs continue to accumulate despite the suspension of construction work.
Felix Kwaky Fosu, Government Spokesperson put out the key National Cathedral audit findings
Total Cost & Contract Issues
- Contrary to the public figure of $58 million, an additional $39 million is owed to the contractor.
- Actual cost to date: $97 million—with daily costs still accruing despite halted work.
Discrepancies in Payments
- Sir David Adjaye & Associates:
- Reported payment: GHS 117.9M
- Official record: GHS 113M
- GHS 4.9M discrepancy
- Ribade JV Contract:
- Official contract: USD 261.9M
- Presidency reports: USD 286.4M
- Additional discrepancies across project reports and claims.
- The Nehemiah Group:
- Claimed receipt: USD 4.34M VS. reported USD 4.28M
- Unclear balance owed: Presidency says USD 1.85M, but Nehemiah reports only USD 155K outstanding
Procurement Breaches
- Sir David Adjaye’s firm was paid GHS 15.7M before contract approval, and prior to PPA clearance of a GHS 5.85M contract.
- Procurement done via sole sourcing without proper justification—violates Public Procurement Act (Act 663/914).
- No breakdown for key payments, including:
- USD 1.5M mobilisation fee
- USD 1.19M “Use/After Care” fee
- USD 861K discrepancy in reported mobilisation payments.
Unclear Contractual Roles
- Nehemiah Group and Kubik Maltbie were both paid for overlapping roles:
- Nehemiah received USD 675K
- Kubik received USD 592.5K
- No clarity on who actually delivered project coordination.
Questionable Expenditures
- USD 110K spent on failed fundraising trips (Houston, NY) by Nehemiah.
- Reimbursed expenses (USD 24.5K) outside contractual scope.
- Accommodation, travel, and media expenses unaccounted or poorly documented:
- GHS 18,500 hotel bill (GHS 13,524 missing in records)
- Duplicate trip funding approvals (USD 20K+)
- Blogger payments (GHS 20K allocated, but GHS 5,300 unaccounted)
Internal Control Failures
- Over GHS 38M in mobile money donations failed due to transfer issues—no reconciliation.
- Missing donation records for 2022 & 2023.
- Unsupported expenses: GHS 292,681 out of GHS 349,847 lacked documentation.
- Procurement Committee formation violated legal requirements (Act 663/914).
Government Action
Following these damning findings, the government is taking some immediate steps:
- The National Cathedral Secretariat is dissolved (effective 1st May 2025).
- Legal processes to dissolve the Board of Trustees are underway.
- The Deloitte audit report will be published after this briefing.
- The Auditor-General has been requested to conduct a forensic audit of the entire project.
- The Attorney-General is initiating lawful termination of the project’s contract to prevent further state losses.
- Further actions will be based on findings from the forensic audit—this includes prosecution and decisions on the project’s future.
