The concession agreement for the construction of the Accra-Kumasi Expressway has received approval from Parliament. In the agreement the Ministry of Roads and Highways serves as the Contracting Authority and Accra–Kumasi Expressway Limited named as the concessionaire.
The minority led by immediate past Minister for Road and Highways Francis Asenso-Boakye had raised questions about the project arguing the existing Accra–Kumasi highway should rather be a priority.
Speaking during the approval, Minister for Roads and Highways, Governs Kwame Agbodza, assured the project would proceed as planned, stressing that the proposed expressway is intended to serve as an alternative route rather than a replacement for the current highway.
“The ECOWAS and the AU protocol say that when you build an expressway, you are allowed to charge a certain level of toll to recover the cost. But you must have an alternative that if somebody wants to go to Kumasi in six hours, he will also have the alternative.
“…There’s no road in Ghana that is more important than the road between Accra and Kumasi. And indeed we are doing something that we’ll be proud of maybe in five years,” he stated.
The project involves the construction of a new six-lane dual carriageway, expected to enhance road safety, significantly reduce travel time, and offer a more efficient option for commuters.
During the consideration of the Road and Transport Committee’s report on the agreement, the Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, cautioned the government against neglecting the existing highway as it focuses resources on the new expressway.
“This project is GoG funded through GIIF and I think it’s a beautiful framework so that the money is made available to GIIF subcontracts and GIIF can take the money back as a commercial project. But it is GoG still and the old Accra Kumasi highway, if I’m correct is also GoG,” he argued.
“If they are both going to draw from the same source, especially now that the revenues haven’t hit the projections, let’s be careful so that we don’t have both projects,” the former Works and Housing Minister added.
Government however insists the new expressway which is part of the ‘Big Push’ agenda will modernize one of Ghana’s most critical transport corridors while providing a safer, faster, and more reliable alternative for commuters.
With feasibility studies done, the approval of the concession agreement paves way for the award of contract which will have to return to parliament if the project is awarded to a foreign entity.
