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Kwame Agbodza, the nominee for the Roads and Highways Ministry, has disclosed that some road contractors in Ghana are owed as little as ₵5,000 by the government, raising questions about the management of road toll funds.
This revelation came during his vetting by the Appointments Committee on Monday, January 20, 2025.
During the session, Mr. Agbodza addressed the controversial decision by the Akufo-Addo administration to cancel road tolls. He expressed surprise at the move, arguing that instead of abolishing the tolls, the government should have focused on improving the system by addressing inefficiencies and leakages.
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“We decided to caution the government not to cancel the road toll but rather find a way to make it better. This means that we should find a way to block the leakages and enhance it. So it was surprising that it was cancelled, or they claimed they zeroed it. For me, it was an act of illegality. They couldn’t unilaterally do that. I believe there was some level of negligence in the way it was done,” he stated.
Mr. Agbodza criticised the government’s claim that road tolls generated only ₵80 million annually, contrasting this with the financial struggles of contractors owed minimal amounts. He highlighted this disparity as evidence of poor financial management in the sector.
Looking ahead, the minister nominee announced plans to reintroduce road tolls in a modernised form. He explained that the new system would leverage technology to facilitate efficient and fair toll collection, eliminating the need for physical roadblocks or manual transactions.
“The road toll is coming back, but not in the form of building obstructions on the road for drivers to stop and somebody taking money from them. This is coming in the form of technology and in a fair manner that will make it easy to collect,” he said.
