During the recent vetting session, the Minister-Designate for Roads and Highways, Hon. Governs Kwame Agbodza, faced pressing questions from the Vetting Committee on various issues concerning the road sector’s budgetary allocations, project commitments, and the controversial suspension of toll booths.
The Vetting Committee sought clarification on whether the entire national budget should be directed to the road sector, given the significant commitments left by the previous government.
A member of the Committee asked, “Is the total road sector commitment just enough for one year’s budget?” Hon. Agbodza responded, emphasizing the severity of the situation;
“Chairman, the situation is even worse than that. With the 100,000,000,000 commitments, some of these projects are designed and built. Let me give you an example. On the way to [some] constituencies, the rehabilitation and upgrading of Kasoa to Akotea Road, the contract sum is about 1,000,000,000 Ghana Cedi. That’s [slot] 1 and then that is kilometer 0 to kilometer 12. And from Akotea to Winneba, that leads to the respected minority leaders constituency is 987,000,000 Ghana Cedi.”
Hon. Governs Kwame Agbodza Minister-Designate for Roads and Highways
Hon. Agbodza further explained the financial implications, noting the instability of project figures. He emphasized;
“The remark is that new figures to be agreed. What it means is that these figures are not stable. So, the $100 billion I gave you is not the cost to complete. This is the projected figure as of the time this report was prepared. So, you will surely have to find extra money by the time you complete this project. So the cost to complete will be more than this.”
Hon. Governs Kwame Agbodza Minister-Designate for Roads and Highways
In addressing the feasibility of directing the entire budget to the road sector, Hon. Agbodza acknowledged the need for a balanced approach.
“Do I expect you to hand over the national budget to me? No. Because education, healthcare, and even the salaries of teachers and ourselves have to be paid as item one. That is why I think the way out is to sit down. Maybe everybody has been prepared to take some level of responsibility.”
Hon. Governs Kwame Agbodza Minister-Designate for Roads and Highways
He left the decision on budget allocations to the Finance Minister to ensure he does not interfer in the work of the finance minister.
Suspension and Reintroduction of Toll Booths
The Committee also probed into the legality and consequences of the suspension of toll booths by a Minister of State without parliamentary recourse. Hon. Agbodza was asked, “First of all, I want to know your take. Legal or illegal, and what are the consequences? Then secondly, what is your position on the reintroduction of the toll booths?”
In his response, Hon. Agbodza critiqued the suspension’s legality and highlighted its adverse effects. He emphasized;
“For me, it was an act of illegality. They said they just zeroed it. But it was a road fund and has got an Act. It’s a law. So, you couldn’t unilaterally do that. As a result, I believe there was some level of negligence in the way it was done.”
Hon. Governs Kwame Agbodza Minister-Designate for Roads and Highways
He also addressed the financial shortfall resulting from the suspension. He emphasized;
“They claimed road toll was accruing only about 80,000,000. But today, the contractors working for the government of Ghana are owed 5,000 cedis within the roadside. Can you imagine how many roadside weed clearance will be paid with 80,000,000?”
Hon. Governs Kwame Agbodza Minister-Designate for Roads and Highways
Hon. Agbodza reiterated the consistent stance of his side on maintaining road tolls to ensure steady revenue for road maintenance. He recounted;
“Our side consistently stood on principle and said bring the road toll back. Yes, 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. It will be coming back based on a technological platform that makes it fair and that makes it easy to collect, easy to account for, and for the public to know what the money is actually being used for.”
Hon. Governs Kwame Agbodza Minister-Designate for Roads and Highways
He concluded by promising a policy on the new approach to toll collection, stating, “Together with the road minister, we shall come out with a policy as to how that will be done.”
The vetting session provided a comprehensive overview of the challenges in the road sector and the proposed strategies to address them.
Hon. Agbodza’s responses underscored the need for a balanced budgetary approach, the importance of legal adherence in policy implementation, and the potential benefits of reintroducing toll booths through modernized methods.
His commitment to transparency and accountability in road sector financing and management was evident throughout the interaction.
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