Alhassan Suhuyini, the Deputy Roads Minister, has assured Ghanaians that the Pokuase–Nsawam road project will be completed without delays.
The deputy road minister apologised to motorists for the inconvenience caused by the prolonged delay.
Speaking at the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on Wednesday, August 20, Alhassan Suhuyini stated, “I will first of all apologise to all motorists on that stretch. It is one of the potatoes that we inherited at the ministry. By the time we got to the ministry, the contractor, like many other contractors across the country, had already abandoned the site due to non-payment, and we have been working with the Finance Minister to ensure that we get some releases to these contractors so they can go back to the site.
“This contractor, as we speak, has received some payment and has adequately mobilised back to the site. It is not going to be a nine-day wonder; he is back to site,” Mr. Suhuyini guaranteed.
Meanwhile, Kwasi Agyei, the Controller and Accountant General, has revealed that GH¢809 million has been paid to the contractor working on the Pokuase–Nsawam Highway.
The Controller and Accountant General announced that the money was paid on August 4, 2025.
Kwasi Agyei added that the government has fully met its financial obligations towards the project.
Speaking in an interview on Peace FM on Monday, August 18, the Controller and Accountant General stated, “On July 24, we gave part payment; on July 30, another tranche; and on August 4, the final payment. Altogether, we have honoured the request in full, amounting to about GH¢809 million”.
The Controller and Accountant General announcement comes just days before the one-week ultimatum issued by the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU).
The GPRTU had earlier threatened to suspend operations on Wednesday, August 20, if the government failed to get the contractor back on site.
However, reports suggest the contractors of the Pokuase–Nsawam have returned to continue repair works.
Speaking on Sedem Afenyo, the Member of Parliament for Amasaman, stated, “Saturday in morning, I realised some work was being done here. Sunday, I went to church when I came back, and they were still working. Today they’ve moved to Sapeiman and Samsam junction. I drove to Samsam, and I realised that they have done a bit of filling. Sapeiman, they have done a bit of levelling, or let me say reshaping, and a bit of refilling”.
“What we’ve seen now is a situation we’ve not seen in the past two months. I have never seen vehicles drive at this speed in the past two weeks. There is always traffic here.
“The engineers I spoke to told me they are hoping to finish this stretch as in the filling and levelling of the road, by close this week. That is, if there is no rain, move to the other side, asphalt it for us and then move traffic flow to the other side and then work on this side,” the MP added.
In a related road story, Governs Kwame Agbodza, the minister of Roads and Highways, has said the John Mahama-led Big Push projects will be completed in twenty-four months.
The roads minister revealed that the Big Push road projects have been deliberately structured to span two years.
According to Agbodza, under the reset agenda, if there’s any evidence of a three-month delay by a contractor, they will write it into the contract and terminate it.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Agbodza detailed, “The average Ghanaian has come to accept something that is completely unacceptable, because they see road projects start around their backyard, and no one can tell them when it will be completed. We want to reset. ‘Reset’ means we need to change that narrative”.
“All the projects have been deliberately structured to span two years, 24 months, and we will not go beyond that. Sometimes, a contractor is awarded 100 kilometres of road. People forget that constructing 100 kilometres is not a small undertaking.
There may be people who are more interested in how much it costs — they focus on the money involved. So contractors take the job, and for seven or eight years, they do nothing. We want to avoid that”, he added.
The road minister emphasised that the project will go strictly with its timeline of completion, “From now on, Big Push — which is something we needed like yesterday — will work differently. When we award you 20 kilometres of road and say complete it in 24 months, we expect you to finish ahead of schedule.
If there’s any evidence of a three-month delay, we’ll write it into the contract: we terminate. We are not going to wait. If you like, go to court.
“No contractor is compelled to participate in Big Push, but if you do, you must be prepared to work 24/7. You must be ready to deliver within 12 months unless something extremely unforeseen happens, and we’ll be the ones to determine that.”