Government clears GH¢5bn road debt, targets gradual payment of GH¢40bn arrears – Agbodza

The Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has said the government has paid GH¢5 billion to road contractors as part of efforts to clear longstanding arrears in the sector.

Speaking from Beijing in an interview with Citi FM on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, Mr Agbodza said the payment, was made without foreign borrowing.

“As of Friday, about GH¢5 billion has been paid to contractors whose certificates have been validated. That is huge. It’s the biggest single payment to road contractors at a particular time in the life of any government in recent history,” he said.

Mr Agbodza explained that the payment followed a detailed validation exercise by the Ministry of Finance and the Auditor-General’s Department to verify all legitimate claims before disbursement.

“If we had rushed to pay, we would have thrown away part of your money because during the validation, it turned out that some of the amounts we were told we owed were not exactly so,” he said.

He noted that the government inherited about GH¢40 billion in unpaid obligations across the road sector, including GH¢21 billion under the Government of Ghana (GoG) account and over GH¢8 billion under the Road Fund, as well as separate arrears on Cocoa Roads projects.

“We are told that what was presented to us at transition was GH¢21 billion GoG indebtedness and about GH¢5 billion Road Fund debt. That excludes Cocoa Roads. Without a doubt, we are close to about GH¢40 billion in work done and unpaid,” he said.

The Roads Minister said the government, now in its first year, could not be expected to clear the entire amount at once but was taking steps to pay contractors progressively.

“If a government that is one year old is able to pay GH¢5 billion of the arrears inherited, without borrowing, I think that government must be commended,” he said, crediting President John Mahama and the Finance Minister for “prudence and effective leadership”.

Mr Agbodza said payments under the old Road Fund, now known as the Road Maintenance Trust Fund, had started and that outstanding arrears would continue to be settled as more fiscal space becomes available.

Responding to concerns about the slow pace of capital expenditure in the first half of the year, he said the government’s flagship Big Push infrastructure projects were on schedule, with procurement and design processes nearing completion.

“The Big Push projects have just landed on site. You will see more expenditure on the new projects coming in towards the end of the year into next year. We are not off target,” he said.

He added that new road projects worth over GH¢70 billion had already been awarded, while ongoing works on previously stalled projects such as the Ofankor, Kasoa, and Adenta–Dodowa roads were progressing without cancellations.

Mr Agbodza is currently in Beijing as part of President Mahama’s delegation attending the Ghana Presidential Investment Forum, which has attracted more than 600 Chinese investors exploring opportunities in sectors such as roads, mining, agriculture, and renewable energy.