Ghana’s government will investigate controversial plans to build a $400m (£330m) national cathedral, new President John Mahama has said.
Pressure is mounting on the authorities to abandon the project, which has divided opinion in a country going through an economic crisis.
Former President Nana Akufo-Addo, whose party was voted out in the December elections, has promised to build the cathedral after crediting God for his party’s 2016 success.
The Akufo-Addo government said the cathedral would be privately funded, but so far $58 million of taxpayers’ money has been spent on the project.
There is nothing to show for this amount except a huge crater on a parcel of valuable land in the center of Accra, previously occupied by government buildings, magistrates’ residences and financial companies.
Ghana is a deeply religious country, where 70% of the people are Christians.
The National Cathedral of Ghana was conceived as a holy place for all Christians, where national religious services can be held. It is also planned to house a Bible museum and a national conference center there.
At the thanksgiving service on Sunday, Mahama said: “The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has directed the government to audit the project and investigate any misuse of public funds. We would soon launch such an inquiry into the project.”
However, he did not rule out the completion of the cathedral.
“We can come up with a more reasonable figure to achieve such a project and together we can raise the funds for it,” he said.
“Such a review of this project could even involve changing the current location that has been chosen for the project. The project must be done at a reasonable cost, in the current circumstances that Ghana is going through, it does not make sense to do the project at a whopping $400 million.”
On Monday, new finance minister Cassiel Ato Forson suggested that public money would no longer be used for the project, telling a parliamentary committee that the government “will work to reduce wasteful expenditure, and the national cathedral project is one of them”.
Ghana has been hit by its worst economic crisis in a generation and last year received a $3bn (£2.5bn) bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The rate at which the price of goods increases, or inflation, has improved significantly since the bailout, but is still high at 23.8%.
Work on the cathedral has stalled after contractors wrote to the government, saying they did not want to continue due to non-payment.
Mahama had hinted before the December elections that if he became president, he would launch an investigation into the project and decide whether to proceed with it or not.
But while his NDC party was in opposition, its parliamentary group called on Akuffo-Addo to “terminate the contract for the project” altogether.
NDC lawmaker Kwabena Mintah Akandoh asked: “Where is the wisdom in building a cathedral when there are more pressing needs in the country in sectors like health and education?
“I don’t think any sane person expects John Mahama to build a cathedral. People are dying of cholera and other diseases, why focus on the cathedral?”
The building has also raised concerns among senior priests involved in the project.
Five members of the cathedral’s board of trustees have resigned amid calls for the government to halt the project and carry out an audit.
