The Minority in Parliament is pushing back against Roads and Highways Minister Kwame Agbodza, accusing him of making a deliberate attempt to deny the achievements of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the roads sector.
This comes amid the Minister’s recent dismissal of claims that the Akufo-Addo administration constructed 10,800 kilometres of roads during its tenure.
Speaking during the government’s Accountability Series today, Minister Agbodza said his inspections across the country did not reflect the figures previously announced.
“It was difficult to see the 10,800km of road President Akufo-Addo declared at a point in time that they had done,” Mr. Agbodza said. “It was difficult to see even 1,000km of road in good condition in only one location, let alone 10,800km. Obviously, what the President said at that time was not factual.”
While acknowledging some progress was made under the previous administration, Mr. Agbodza described the often-cited figures as misleading.
He also announced a new policy shift under the current government, stating that projects will only begin when fully funded to avoid delays and abandonment.
“The days of uncontrolled, unregulated award of contracts are far gone. We will only start projects that we are sure we can fund,” he added.
In response, former Roads Minister Francis Asenso-Boakye sharply criticized Agbodza’s remarks, dismissing them as “disingenuous” and driven more by political motives than by facts.
“The Minister claims that President Akufo-Addo’s widely-acknowledged achievement of constructing over 13,000 rows is a mirage because he did not see any such rows during his recent tour,” Mr. Asenso-Boakye told journalists in Parliament.
“This is not only disingenuous, but a gross attempt to politicize hard facts. Let us put the matter on record, set the record straight.”he said.
Mr Asenso-Boakye asserted that between 2017 and the end of 2024, the Akufo-Addo administration undertook 13,624 kilometres of road projects—far exceeding the 4,636 kilometres completed during the Mills-Mahama years.
“These over 13 kilometres comprise new constructions, asphalt overlays, gravelling and re-gravelling, reconstruction and partial reconstruction, upgrading and rehabilitation works,” he explained.
He added that the figures have been presented multiple times, yet continue to be ignored:
“These facts have been presented repeatedly, yet Mr. Agbodza continues to ignore them, perhaps because the unprecedented scale of road development under Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo unsettles the current administration.”
Mr. Asenso-Boakye also criticised what he described as the Minister’s double standards regarding procurement processes.
“It is equally troubling that the Minister, who upon assuming office, loudly criticized the Akufo-Addo administration for employing single-source procurement method, is now making a complete U-turn,” he said.
“At today’s press conference, Mr. Agbodza who stated today that once you have engineers’ estimates, once the engineers prepare the estimates for road construction, it doesn’t matter the procurement method you use. He made this statement today.” he stated.
He questioned the Minister’s consistency and called for accountability, saying, “Is this not double standards? This blatant contradiction not only exposes his double standards but raises serious questions about his integrity. You cannot demonize a method that others use only to defend it when you find yourself in the same situation.”
“If the Minister now believes that procurement should be guided by technical evaluation as it should, then he owes the previous administration an unqualified apology for the misleading accusations.”he emphasized.
Mr. Asenso-Boakye emphasised the need for professionalism and integrity in the Ministry of Roads and Highways:
“I want to add that the Ministry of Roads and Highways is a technical institution, not a propaganda arm for political Spin. If the Hon Agbodza wants to be taken seriously, he must rise above selective memory and partisan grandstanding. Ghana deserves honest, data-driven, not empty rhetoric,” he concluded.
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