Roads minister on why Suame interchange has been reduced from four-tier

The Minister of Roads and Highways, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has explained that the Suame Interchange is being modified to include the construction of an outer ring road in light of new development within the greater Kumasi area.

He said that, as much as the original design was not arbitrary, it offered what it could, based on the opportunities that existed at the time and that “with the construction of the outer ring road, an even more appropriate option is being offered”.

Read also: Suame interchange project begins

Sod was cut in October 2022 for the construction of a four-tier interchange at the Suame roundabout in Kumasi where the N6 from Accra connects the N10 to northern Ghana in Tamale. This is to help improve urban mobility in the city and the Ashanti Region at large.

It was to be the first four-tier interchange in the Ashanti Region and the second in the country, after the Pokuase Interchange in the Greater Accra Region.

But speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Monday [Feb 9, 2026], the Minister of Roads, Mr Agbodza said President Mahama had authorised the construction of the Kumasi Outer Ring Road and that works had started under the Big Push.

The outer ring road, he said, commenced at Atia Junction near Boankra, and traversed Juaben, Kasaam, Tano Odumasi, Ahodwo, and finally ended at Akom on N10. 

"This new construction offers an even more appropriate connection from the N10 at Akom to the N6 at Boankra and shortens the travel time for vehicles travelling from the northern part of our country to the southern part and vice versa.

"Construction of the Kumasi outer ring road will divert most of the traffic up north from the city centre," Mr Agbodza said.

Event

The minister was addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, in response to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Caucus’ concerns, accusing the government of deliberately trying to change the interchange from a four-tier to a two-tier project.

Mr Agbodza said the issue about selective funding, as stated by the caucus, was misplaced, and that it “is important to note that not a single pesewa is being diverted from the original project, but rather, over GH¢3 billion has been committed into the outer ring road network”.

Challenges

The minister said that the full cost of funding the original design was not available to complete the works after Ghana had declared default and gone to the IMF.

To enable the start of the project, it was put under an AFRIEXIM facility, and after partial disbursement of the advance payment, no payments have been received to date.

Mr Agbodza said the main challenge with the original design was not the functionality but the expropriation cost.  

The minister said the project budget did not include the full cost for relocating utilities and that although utilities such as water and electricity at the roundabout were eventually moved, there remained more at Krofrom intersection and Abrepo.

“The project did not also account for the full cost of land and property compensation.

The North-South leg of the viaduct will have to be partly built on land owned by Garden City Mall, impact the Suame Police Station and a three-storey commercial and residential building not budgeted under the project. 

“A rough estimate of the costs of these will be more than 50 per cent of the cost of constructing the four-tier interchange,” he said.

Mr Agbodza said that the Garden City Mall owners had earlier indicated a no-objection to putting foundations on the land.

However, immediately after the 2024 elections, their lawyers wrote to indicate an intention to sue and physically stopped Rango from using part of their land to store jersey barriers; something they had no objection to earlier, he said.

Benefits of modification

The minister said the modification would allow “us to save those buildings and allow the businesses to thrive while offering a new first-class concrete road from Akom on the N10 to Boankra on the N6”.

In addition, he said the bad section from Abusuakuruwa to Akom would be completely rehabilitated.

“I disagree that reducing the scope from a four-tier to what is being proposed, which is a three-tier, would fail, as this is not being done in isolation.

In fact, the only portion of the original design being eliminated is the four-tier bridge, as the expropriation impact does not make it worthwhile, especially when the outer ring road is being constructed.

“The modification, together with the additional roads being undertaken, would more comprehensively deal with the traffic challenges not only at the Suame intersection, but the entire greater Kumasi metropolis,” he said.