The National Cathedral of Ghana, a $400 million building in Accra that is being designed by architect David Adjaye‘s firm, will reportedly be investigated after concerns were raised about its cost. The cathedral had been the source of controversy in Ghana well before Adjaye was accused of sexual misconduct in 2023. Adjaye has categorically denied those claims of misconduct, which were first reported by the Financial Times. His firm, Adjaye Associates, is currently at work on a building for the Studio Museum in Harlem. Prior to the claims of misconduct, Adjaye was one of the most celebrated architects in the world. Among his most acclaimed projects is the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
According to the BBC, former president Nana Akufo-Addo claimed the building, which was commissioned in 2018 while he was in power, would be privately funded. Later, Ghanaian members of parliament (MPs) accused Akufo-Addo of illegally hiring Adjaye Associates to design the building. MPs from the National Democratic Congress – the opposition party at the time – claimed that the studio was “sole-sourced” for the project and accused Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party parliament of unjustly using state money to pay for the design work.
In 2022, one Ghanaian politician even implored Adjaye to personally return the $21.4 million fee his firm received for the project. Earlier in January, the BBC reported that President John Mahama will seek an investigation of the cathedral, the construction for which appears to be mostly stalled. This is despite the National Cathedral of Ghana previously denying that construction had reached a standstill. The investigation at hand follows the recommendation of Ghana’s Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice to perform an audit and inquiry into the building for any misuse of public funds. The BBC also reported that Cassiel Ato Forson, the Ghanaian finance minister, said that public funds will no longer be used to support the cathedral. It appears that the cathedral may not be nixed entirely, however, some politicians have urged President Mahama to end it altogether. President Mahama had this to say, “We can reach a more reasonable figure for achieving such a project and together we can raise the funding for it.”
The project was set to be a landmark building for Accra, containing a series of chapels, a baptistery, a 5,000-seat auditorium, a music school, an art gallery and Africa’s first bible museum. The building site is currently vacant with construction work yet to commence, following the demolition of state buildings, judges’ homes and buildings for financial practices. Amid an economic crisis, demolition work on the site halted after workers refused to continue due to a lack of payment.
Adjaye Associates declined to comment while no representative of the National Cathedral of Ghana has been reached for comment. Adjaye Associates was dropped from a number of projects in 2023, including the Africa Institute in Sharjah and the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, after three former employees accused Adjaye of sexual misconduct. Adjaye denies the allegations.
