The Communications Director of the United Party (UP), Solomon Owusu, has taken on Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams over his recent comments on the National Cathedral project.
He says the clergy failed to tell former President William Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo the truth, regarding what the country’s priority was, at the time.
Archbishop Duncan-Williams had said during a church service that the Cathedral failed not because of corruption but because Christians are not serious. “We are not serious about posterity. We are not serious about the kingdom. We are a bunch of selfish, greedy people,” he said.
Reacting to the comments on TV3’s BigIssue segment on the NewDay morning show on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, Solomon Owusu described the Cathedral vision as jaundiced.
“Now, their inability as a clergy to look straight into his face when he brought that jaundiced vision; that Mr. President, there were millions of Ghanaians struggling through abject poverty. It may be a good vision, that could be implemented in the future. But for now, in our local language we say ‘Yɛyɛ deɛ ehia ansa y’ayɛ deɛ ɛfata
He said the clergy later realised their integrity had been damaged. “They joined the bandwagon, they were short-changed. At a point, they realised their integrity had been brought into disrepute. So they had to do something. They should have told him right away,” he added.
“If I was sitting there, I would have told him straight away. You are going to use my tax revenue to go and do something that will not benefit us immediately. We will get there. But for now, let’s deal with the issues of poverty,” he added.
The National Cathedral was President Akufo-Addo’s personal pledge to God prior to the 2016 election, where he said he would build a sanctuary for God should he become victorious.
Initially estimated at $100 million and expected to be financed largely through private donations, the project has stalled since 2022 with only a large pit at the site, which many have since described as the most expensive hole in the world.
About $58 million of public funds has been sunk into it, with a recent Deloitte audit putting total cost and outstanding commitments at $97 million, a development that has sparked widespread public anger.
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