Roads Ministry needs 1,000 additional staff — Governs Agbodza

The Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has disclosed that the Ministry has submitted a request for the recruitment of about 1,000 additional personnel to strengthen its agencies and improve the supervision and delivery of road infrastructure projects across the country.

Mr. Agbodza made the revelation when he appeared before Parliament's Select Committee on Economy and Development, where he outlined the staffing challenges confronting the sector.

He explained that the request, submitted by the Ministry's Chief Director, is aimed at addressing growing personnel shortages that have emerged following the creation of six new administrative regions without a corresponding increase in staffing levels for road sector institutions.

According to the Minister, the shortage has placed enormous pressure on key technical staff, including engineers, quality assurance officers, and other professionals responsible for monitoring road projects and ensuring standards are maintained.

He noted that while government continues to invest heavily in road infrastructure, inadequate human resources have affected the sector's ability to effectively supervise projects and enforce quality control measures.

“The staffing level of the agencies is far less than what it should be. If you consider the fact that we are investing heavily on these projects, part of the reason some of the projects suffer quality assurance is simply because we don’t have enough people to monitor these projects.

“We’ve got approval for 137 staff at various level, QSEs, engineers and everything, but that was just for highways. The chief director has since submitted a request for about 1,000, because don’t forget, we created six new regions and didn’t actually staff them with new staff,” he said.

Mr. Agbodza stressed that strengthening the workforce is essential to enhancing project monitoring, improving quality assurance, and boosting operational efficiency within the Ministry and its agencies.

He assured Parliament that efforts are being made to address the staffing deficit and build the institutional capacity required to support the government's expanding road infrastructure programme.