Accra-Kumasi expressway project: Govt will pay compensation to affected residents
The military contractors constructing the new Accra-Kumasi expressway have given the assurance that the government will pay adequate compensation to all the people whose properties are being destroyed to pave the way for the project.
The items earmarked for destruction include buildings, oil palm plantations, cocoa and food crop farms.
The leader of the contractors working on the Akyem Asuboa South enclave of the project, Major Evans Biney, gave the assurance when he engaged over 200 aggrieved farmers at Akyem Asene near Oda whose crops had been destroyed by the contractors without being paid any compensation.
He said the road was initially designed to be 120 metres wide but had later been expanded to 150 metres, resulting in more farmers being affected by the construction project.
According to Major Biney, a team of experts, including officials from the Land Valuation Board and the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA), would soon visit the community to assess the farms which had not been assessed and the property not yet valued for compensation packages.
Major Biney stated that the contractors had 20 weeks to complete the feasibility studies, which started on March 20, 2026.
Allegations
Reacting to the alleged assault by the soldiers on aggrieved farmers who complained about non-payment of compensation for their destroyed farms, which were the only source of livelihoods, Major Biney stressed that the soldiers did not intimidate anybody.
The farmers also cited rumours about plans to site an interchange at Asene New Town, a move they feared could lead to the demolition of the premises of Akim State University College and about 40 buildings, potentially rendering more than 300 people homeless.
They also expressed concern over the possible destruction of the public cemetery used by more than 20 religious bodies.
Responding to the concerns, Major Biney said feasibility studies were ongoing and that no location had yet been designated for the interchange.
Necessary
He said that if it became necessary for the public cemetery to be affected by the road construction project, chiefs, assembly members, and other opinion leaders would be consulted to secure an alternative burial site.
He added that a complaints committee would soon be established at Asene to receive grievances from the farmers and forward their reports to Accra for redress.
When asked why the soldiers were confiscating lumber from the affected farmers’ lands and also felling economic trees on the farms and nearby areas — which the farmers claimed were their rightful property — Major Biney said the trees belonged to the government and, therefore, the farmers had no authority to harvest them.
Answering a barrage of questions by the aggrieved farmers on how soon they would be paid compensation for their destroyed crops, which served as their only source of livelihoods, Madam S. Asinam from the GHA head office replied that the compensation would be paid in June, 2026.
