SONA25: We’ll minimise sole-source procurement in road sector – President Mahama  

Despite challenges in the road sector, the Government would take steps to fix bad roads and encourage “competitive bidding” for road contracts, President John Mahama said on Thursday.

Presenting his first State of The Nation Address to Parliament in Accra, he indicated plans to execute initiatives such as the “Big Push” Programme, to rehabilitate feeder roads, urban roads, and highways.

He said the Government intended to minimise sole-source procurement in the sector to encourage competitive bidding and enhance public transparency in procurement processes.

“We will also reintroduce tolls using modern technology, rationalise the Road Sector Portfolio to focus on high-impact initiatives, and de-cap the Road Fund,” he noted.

Mr Mahama rejected claims that the previous government had constructed 13,000 kilometres of new roads, emphasising that “available evidence does not support the assertion.”

He said road construction equipment acquired by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Administration under the District Road Improvement Project (DRIP) would be re-organised into Regional mobile maintenance units to undertake emergency road works in the regions.

“The road sector is in crisis, mainly due to years of mismanagement. As many as 85 per cent of awarded contracts have been stalled, and contractors have stopped work due to non-payment.”

“As of December 2024, unpaid bills owed to contractors exceeded GHS 20 billion for work carried out between 2018 and 2024,” Prez Mahama said.

He cited the Ghana Road Fund, which had obtained a loan of GHS 600 million in March 2018 to refinance outstanding debts but was yet to settle all the debts.

“Alarmingly, upon assuming office, the Ghana Road Fund still had outstanding payments — including some as low as GHS 2,000, dating back to 2018. Current commitments for road projects now total an astonishing GHS 105 billion,” he said.

“Despite these considerable challenges, this Government remains steadfast in its commitment to prioritising vital infrastructure projects that address the pressing backlog of poor roads,” he stated.

Highlighting other challenges in the sector, he noted that the proportion of poor roads in urban areas had surged from 46 per cent in 2015 to 57 per cent by 2021.

GNA