National Cathedral Scandal: Forestry Deputy CEO Kotoko Calls for Akufo-Addo’s Court Appearance Over ‘Scam on Ghanaians’
Elikem Kotoko, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, unleashed a blistering critique of the stalled National Cathedral project, labeling it an “organised crime unit set up to siphon or launder state funds” and expressing eagerness to see former President Nana Akufo-Addo “hauled to court” for alleged financial irregularities.
In a fiery appearance on JoyNews’ AM Show on Thursday, Kotoko accused Akufo-Addo of exploiting Ghanaians’ religious sentiments to mask corruption, contrasting it with Côte d’Ivoire’s former Minister Boahen, who funded a similar worship site privately without taxpayer burden.
“Let me be frank with you, if wishes were horses, I would be happy to see even former President Nana Akufo-Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo being hauled to court to answer for that hole he dug… So he used God to scam all of us,” Kotoko fumed, decrying the “scam on Ghanaians” that allegedly diverted millions while leaving a barren crater in central Accra.
The outspoken NDC appointee lamented the moral lapse among “elderly leaders,” stating, “I am a young person and I frown so much on elderly people not holding in fidelity the virtues that we thought they were supposed to hand over to us.”
Kotoko’s tirade centers on the $400 million project, envisioned as an interdenominational Christian landmark to mark Ghana’s 60th independence anniversary, designed by British-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye and initially promised as privately funded in 2018.
Despite assurances from Akufo-Addo and religious leaders like Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams that “not a pesewa of public funds” would be used, audits revealed $58 million in taxpayer money spent by 2024, yielding little beyond a foundation pit and a Bible museum shell—amid Ghana’s IMF bailout and economic crisis.
Kotoko highlighted discrepancies, noting former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s 2023 budget claim of 90% progress, while “a toddler who visits that place will tell you not even 5% has been done.”
The project, halted in January 2025 under President John Dramani Mahama, faced a Deloitte forensic audit in July that uncovered contract irregularities and potential overpayments, leading to the dissolution of the Board of Trustees and a freeze on further funding.
Mahama, citing the $400 million cost as “unjustifiable” amid economic woes, ordered investigations into the $58 million spent, including $9.2 million for relocating state buildings and judges’ homes, and questioned Adjaye Associates’ hiring without tender.
The Attorney General was tasked with potential contract termination to stem further losses, with Mahama open to a “more reasonable” completion via private funds, possibly relocating the site.
Kotoko’s outburst, part of ongoing NDC critiques, aligns with broader calls for accountability under Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL), which flagged the cathedral in its February 2025 report on $21 billion in alleged graft.
He accused religious figures of complicity, stating, “This whole National Cathedral thing was another avenue to scam the entire nation, using some of the very notable religious leaders… and it’s been exposed in most of their faces.”
The former president, who vowed in 2016 to build it as a divine promise, defended it as a “national pride” symbol, but faced backlash for its opacity and cost escalations from $100 million in 2019 to $400 million by 2024.
