New Patriotic Party (NPP) communications team member Dennis Miracles Aboagye has criticised President John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over their handling of the National Cathedral project, accusing them of spreading what he described as misinformation about its funding and origins.
Aboagye was speaking at the launch of Jefferson Sackey’s memoir in Accra on September 15, 2026, where he responded to recent comments by President Mahama that taxpayers’ money should not be used to finance the project.
According to Aboagye, the National Cathedral was never designed to be funded entirely by the government. He said the project was conceived as a partnership involving the state, the Christian community and individuals.
“The cathedral was never going to be fully funded by government. It had always been a partnership between the state and the Christian community and individuals,” he said.
He noted that churches, organisations and individuals had continued to contribute towards the project through various channels, including short codes.
Aboagye also argued that the government had already made a significant contribution by providing the land on which the cathedral is being constructed.
“If the state even says we are not putting in a pesewa, remember, the land belongs to the state. And that is the state’s own contribution to the national cathedral,” he said.
He therefore questioned President Mahama’s suggestion that the state would not contribute to the project, insisting that the provision of land itself represented a government contribution.
Aboagye further accused the NDC of using the funding debate to distract from what he described as earlier efforts to discredit the project.
“This whole commentary now is just something that they are putting out to cover up their shame. The misinformation, the denigration of this national edifice that the country wanted,” he said.
A major part of his criticism focused on the description of the National Cathedral as a personal promise made by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Aboagye rejected that characterisation, arguing that political leaders regularly campaign on promises that reflect their individual visions and then seek a mandate from voters to implement them.
He compared the Cathedral to President Mahama’s own campaign commitments, including the 24-hour economy, questioning whether those policies were first subjected to public approval through town hall meetings.
“Which of the promises he made when he was campaigning to us was made after a town hall meeting with us?” he asked.
He argued that if Akufo-Addo’s promise to build a National Cathedral was considered personal simply because it was part of his political agenda, then the same logic could be applied to policies promised by other presidential candidates.
“So why, in the name of God, would you deliberately demonise a national cathedral to the extent of saying that it was a personal promise to God?” Aboagye said.
He maintained that the project should instead be viewed as a national monument that would stand in the name of Ghana.
“A national cathedral can never be termed as a personal promise by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. It is a national edifice. It is a monument that is going to be standing in the name of the nation Ghana,” he insisted.
Despite the controversy surrounding the project, Aboagye said he remained hopeful that the National Cathedral would eventually be completed.
“And for me, I think that ultimately, their lies are catching up with them. And that is why we are seeing all this in that way. I am very hopeful that eventually the national cathedral will be built,” he added.
His comments come after President Mahama, during a recent tour of the Upper West Region, reiterated his position that public funds should not be used to finance the cathedral.
The President suggested that Ghana’s Christian community could complete the project through individual contributions of GH¢1,000. He also raised concerns about the location of the project and disclosed that a forensic audit into nearly $90 million spent on the National Cathedral had been completed and submitted to the Attorney-General.
The National Cathedral, initiated under the previous NPP administration, remains stalled amid ongoing debates over its funding, procurement processes and public expenditure.
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