Ghana MP Urges President to Prioritize Existing Highway Project

Former Roads Minister Francis Asenso-Boakye has formally petitioned President John Mahama to abandon plans for a new six-lane Accra-Kumasi expressway and instead complete the ongoing dualization project.

The Bantama MP’s appeal, dated August 4, 2025, argues the proposed expressway contradicts constitutional mandates for project continuity and wastes critical resources.

Asenso-Boakye highlighted significant progress on the current corridor: 100km of the 240km stretch already dualized, with another 46km under active construction. Bypasses at Anyinam, Osino, Enyiresi, and Konongo show 58-100% completion. He warned that initiating a new expressway—still lacking feasibility studies, cost estimates, or secured funding—while existing works advance contradicts Article 35(7) of Ghana’s Constitution requiring governments to continue predecessor projects.

The lawmaker challenged the feasibility of the President’s three-year completion timeline, citing the Roads Minister’s admission that consultants haven’t even begun studies. “Such pronouncements risk undermining our credibility in infrastructure planning,” the petition stated. While acknowledging concerns about cost overruns in current contracts, Asenso-Boakye insisted variations should be resolved within existing frameworks—not used to justify abandoning nationally critical infrastructure.

Emphasizing fiscal constraints, the former minister urged redirecting resources to complete the Accra-Kumasi dual carriageway and fund other priority routes like the Eastern Corridor and Kumasi-Tamale highway. “My concern is borne not out of partisanship, but in the interest of continuity, prudence, and national development,” he concluded, urging Mahama to consolidate existing gains rather than pursue disruptive new projects.