Mahama dissolves National Cathedral trustee board, site to go back to ministry by 31 October

Pinned summary · as of 16:28

President John Dramani Mahama has scrapped the Board of Trustees running the National Cathedral of Ghana Project, with the order taking effect at once. The trustees have until 31 October 2026 to give the project site to the Local Government Ministry, which says government will then decide what becomes of the project.

What we know

• Mahama ordered the trustee board of the National Cathedral of Ghana Project to be dissolved, and reports on the decision came out on 18 September 2026.
• Under the directive, the trustees are to formally give up the cathedral site to the Local Government Ministry by 31 October 2026. The ministry says this will let government settle the project's future.
• The government had already shut the National Cathedral Secretariat and begun legal steps concerning the trustees after an audit by Deloitte and Touche. That audit found financial irregularities and procurement breaches.
• Government has since moved for a forensic audit into the wider running of the cathedral project, according to both Onua Online and The Vaultz News.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Onua Online reported that the instruction came in a letter dated 18 September 2026 from Minister Mahama Ayariga, who oversees local government, chieftaincy and religious affairs. It was sent to trustees under Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah and told them to work with the project consultant on the handover. No other report gives these letter details.
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  Onua Online reported that Government Communications Minister Felix Kwakye Ofosu said the full Deloitte and Touche report would be published and that decisive action would follow any impropriety established by the forensic audit. It also reported that the Attorney General was told to take legal steps to end the project contract. No other report repeats these points.
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  The Custodian reported that building work has stopped, with the contractor RIBADE Company Ltd said to have let go more than 200 workers, and that about GH₵200 million has reportedly been spent on the project. Neither figure has been confirmed by government or by other reports.
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  Political analyst Dr Joshua Jebuntie Zaato of the University of Ghana told The Vaultz News that government owes the public a clear account of whether the project will go on, change form or end. He also asked why the dissolution took about a year, and urged that investigation findings on alleged corruption be laid out before any next phase.
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  Nkonkonsa recalled that Mahama had earlier said taxpayers' money should not fund the cathedral and had suggested Christians could contribute. This earlier remark has not been repeated in other reports.

Why it matters for Ghana

The cathedral occupies a 14.5-acre site near Parliament House in Accra, and the choice government makes after 31 October will decide whether public land and money stay tied to a stalled project. Taxpayers, church donors and the workers and firms linked to the site are all waiting on that answer. The promised forensic audit is also expected to show how funds were handled.