President John Mahama has described Ghana’s road sector as being in crisis, highlighting issues such as mismanagement, stalled projects, and mounting contractor debts.
In his 2025 State of the Nation Address delivered on Thursday, February 27, Mahama questioned claims from the previous administration that it had constructed over 13,000 kilometers of new roads, arguing that much of the reported progress was actually routine maintenance and rehabilitation rather than new construction.
“The proportion of poor roads has increased, especially in urban areas, where deteriorating roads surged from 46% in 2015 to nearly 60% by 2021,” Mahama stated.
He revealed that 85% of awarded road contracts have stalled due to non-payment, with outstanding debts to contractors exceeding GHS 20 billion as of December 2024.
To address the crisis, Mahama announced the “Big Push” Programme, which will focus on rehabilitating key roads across feeder, urban, and highway sectors.
“We will also undertake the following key initiatives to revitalise the road sector: Reintroduce tolls using modern technology, rationalize the road sector portfolio to focus on high-impact initiatives, de-cap the Road Fund, minimize sole-source procurement to encourage competitive bidding, and enhance public transparency in procurement processes,” Mahama outlined.
He assured Ghanaians that his administration is committed to fixing the country’s road infrastructure and ensuring transparency in the sector.
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