SONA25: Akufo-Addo Owed Road Contractors Over 20 Billion Cedis
President John Dramani Mahama has disclosed the outstanding bills his government is compelled to pay road contractors resulting from the previous Akufo-Addo government’s inability to pay them.
Delivering his first State of the Nation Address since assuming office on January 7th, 2025, the President bemoaned the way and manner that the previous administration engaged with contractors.
He noted that “as of December, 2024, unpaid bills owed to contractors in the sector exceeded Ghc20 billion for work that had been carried out between 2018 and 2024. For instance, the Ghana Road Fund obtained a loan of 600 million cedis in March, 2018 to refinance outstanding debt and borrowed an additional Ghc1.2 billion from a syndication of banks in November, 2019”.
“Alarmingly, upon assuming office, the Ghana Road Fund still had outstanding payment including some as low as Ghc2000 dating back to 2018. Current commitments for road projects that are unpaid currently stand at an astonishing Ghc105 billion”, he added.
This notwithstanding, the President pledged his commitment to ensuring proper roads and infrastructure in the country.
“Despite these considerable challenges, this government remains steadfast in its commitment to prioritize vital infrastructure projects that address the pressing backlog of poor roads. Our strategy will be anchored in executing our flagship initiative under the Big Push programme. The Big Push will see major rehabilitations of many key roads in the feeder roads, urban roads and highway sectors.”
He also noted that in order to accumulate money for the road projects, there will be a reintroduction of tolls.
“We will reintroduce tolls, road tolls, using modern technology. We will rationalize the road sector portfolio to focus on high impact initiatives. Mr. Speaker, we will uncap the road fund in order that it can accumulate more money to pay for road maintenance. Mr. Speaker, we will minimize sole-sourced procurements to encourage competition, competitive bidding and enhance public transparency in the procurement processes.”
Source: Ghmessenger.com
