The Minister for Roads and Highways Hon. Kwame Governs Agbodza has stated that the government will prioritize road maintenance this year to improve the conditions of roads across the country.
Speaking during a tour of the various agencies under the Roads Ministry on Monday 27th January 2025, the Minister emphasised the urgent need to improve the condition of Ghana’s road network to boost economic growth and enhance the quality of life for citizens.
“Whatever I’ve said in the past, whatever somebody else said doesn’t matter, what matters today is that those roads that are not in good condition, those people in those areas require us to make sure we improve the roads in their areas,” the Minister stated.
The Minister held durbars with staff of the Ministry, the Department of Urban Road, the Department of Feeder Roads and the Ghana Highways Authority.
He was accompanied by two Technical Advisors, Alhaji Baba Kasim and Dr Ing Shelter Lotsu.
Sustainable Road Projects
Hon. Kwame Agbodza stressed the need to ensure that road projects are sustainable and give the country value for money.
“Going forward, we need to make sure that projects are more sustainable. In my view, too many projects started are never completed on time and the government is left to pay huge interest on these sums. I am going to request your professional view, together with others, if we can’t pay for certain projects, should we still consider them as active projects or put closure to them and find money and restart them when we can,” he said.
Decapping of the Roads Fund
The Minister expressed his commitment to advocating for the decapping of the Roads Fund, stating that the current capping is counter-productive to the road sector.
He explained that more than half of the Fund is taken by the central government, leading to delayed payments to contractors and increased interest charges.
“We take money from Ghanaians for road maintenance , and we take more than half to the central government. Contractors filed their certificates, we don’t pay them, and then they charge us interest on delayed payment.
So by the time government release part of that money , the money doesn’t even go to the project but goes to pay for interest.”
Collaboration with Stakeholders
The Minister pledged to work with staff, contractors, and other stakeholders to resolve the challenges facing the road sector, emphasizing that it’s his responsibility to do so.
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