The Government's bold vision to finally connect the country's two biggest economic hubs with a modern highway received a major boost yesterday with the handover of the right-of-way for the Accra-Kumasi Expressway.
That the clearance of a 183.6-kilometre corridor — originally tasked as 176.5km — was executed by personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) in just 19 weeks is itself a statement.
It signals seriousness, discipline and a departure from the endless sod-cuttings and abandoned corridors that have characterised many road projects.
For this, the GAF deserve commendation.
For too long, Ghana has lived with an anomaly that President John Dramani Mahama rightly described as a shame.
For 70 years after independence, our two largest cities — Accra, the administrative capital, and Kumasi, the commercial heartland — which together hold the biggest population and the largest share of commercial and economic activity, have been linked by a single carriageway, the accident-prone N6.
We have travelled to other countries where far less important towns are connected by dual and triple carriageways, while the country's main economic artery remains a congested, winding, single-lane road that kills hundreds every year. That story is finally about to change.
The Accra-Kumasi Expressway is not just another road. At 198.7 kilometres, it will be the first six-lane, access-controlled, tolled expressway.
Designed for speeds up to 120 km/h, it will cut travel distance by 50 kilometres, bypass the congested towns that have become death traps, and significantly ease the severe gridlock between the two cities.
It will have eight interchanges, three major bridges over the Birim and Pra rivers and pass through towns such as Adeiso, Asamankese, Akim Oda, Ofoase and Kwaso. This is transformational infrastructure.
The economic case is unassailable.
The Accra-Kumasi corridor carries a disproportionate share of national traffic.
Population growth, freight and commercial activities have placed increasing pressure on the existing N6.
The answer, he correctly argued, could not be endless patching and incremental widening.
Ghana needs a long-term road network strategy, and an expressway with controlled access and high-speed movement is at the heart of that strategy.
The President's historical analogy is instructive.
The Daily Graphic agrees with him that for all countries that have become great, they achieved such a feat because they opened the transportation corridor for passengers and goods to move freely. Roads open up countries and they unleash economic greatness.
That was the vision of Dr Kwame Nkrumah when he built the Accra-Tema Motorway linking the capital to the industrial city.
Today, we are extending that vision.
And the President has gone further, articulating a vision of an expressway from Aflao to Elubo — linking Ghana's eastern border to its western border — with the Accra-Kumasi stretch as the spine, and extensions northwards, alongside the Eastern and Western corridor projects.
Vision, however, must be matched with financing and execution discipline. Here, the assurances given are encouraging.
The project will be managed under a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Accra-Kumasi Expressway Limited, a subsidiary of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF). It will have two toll interchanges — one at the Ashanti Region end and one at the Greater Accra end — and we have been told when completed will pay for itself.
That is the model we must embrace: infrastructure that generates its own revenue for maintenance and repayment, rather than becoming a burden on the Consolidated Fund.
The announcement of a $2 billion financing envelope, with assurance from both the President and the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, that the full amount will be secured by the end of the year, and that certificates will be paid instantly, is critical.
If followed through, it will cure the chronic disease that has killed many road projects — erratic funding.
Equally important is the human side.
Thankfully, compensation payments have started for affected farmers — ranging from GH¢1,500 to GH¢350,000 based on valuations.
This process must be transparent, prompt and fair.
No infrastructure project, however laudable, should impoverish citizens in its path.
This project must be insulated from partisan politics.
This road is for Ghana, not for a government. Its 70-year wait is proof of our collective failure to prioritise.
Now that we have started, we must finish — irrespective of which administration is in power.
Clearing 183.6km in 19 weeks shows what we can do when we decide to.
Let us now build the road with the same speed, quality and patriotism.
The Accra-Kumasi Expressway is long overdue.
But if done right, it will be the road that re-opens Ghana for economic greatness.
