Ghana wants roads.
And we are paying for them.
Under the “Big Push” programme, the government has committed billions to open up corridors, connect farmers to markets, and cut travel time across the country.
The 50.3-kilometre Nkwanta-Oti Damango section of the Eastern Corridor, which started in January this year, and is due for completion in January 2028, is one of them.
But there is a problem.
The contractors are on site but lack capacity.
After inspecting the project last Thursday, the Roads and Highways Minister, Governs Kwame Agbodza, issued a blunt warning: “Stop economising too much on having enough capacity on site.”
His message to contractors and to the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA) was simple — we are paying for speed and quality, not excuses.
What the minister saw at Nkwanta-Oti Damango is what Ghanaians see on too many sites.
A small team. A few machines.
Work moving at snail’s pace.
When he asked the contractor, China Jiangxi Engineering Ghana Limited, about payment, the answer was “no, government does not owe us.” Certificates are being paid.
Yet, the pace remains slow.
That tells us the delay is not about money.
It is about choices. Many contractors are “economising too much” — spreading one set of personnel and machines across five projects instead of fully resourcing one and finishing it.
It makes business sense for them. It makes no sense for the taxpayer.
We cannot run a national infrastructure programme on promises. We must run it on bulldozers, rollers, graders and engineers actually on the ground.
For years, GHA and the ministry have handed big firms six, eight, even 10 projects at once.
The result is predictable. The contractor takes all the jobs, then moves resources from site to site, completing none on time.
Meanwhile, smaller, competent firms are locked out.
The Eastern Corridor alone has several contractors performing “less than what is expected.”
The Volivo Bridge over the Volta Lake is another example of slow progress despite its strategic importance.
From now, the rule must be clear: finish one, then get another. No new awards until you hand over a major project.
That discipline will force contractors to bring full capacity to site or lose the job.
Resident engineers and regional directors are paid to supervise, to measure, to certify, and to report. Not to be friends with contractors.
No contractor is “bigger than you and no contractor is stronger than you,” the minister reminded them.
“We are giving them public money and let them work according to each project‘s schedule.”
We task the Chief Director and the Oti Regional Director of GHA to act on this immediately.
Monthly site reports must be published.
Contractors with less than 80 per cent of programmed capacity on site should get warning letters.
Those who fail to improve should have their contracts terminated and blacklisted. No sacred cows.
The Nkwanta-Oti Damango road is not just asphalt.
It is food from Oti to the markets in Accra.
It is pregnant women getting to hospital.
It is students getting to school.
It is tourism and trade.
When we delay it by two years because a contractor wanted to “economise,” we are not delaying a project.
We are delaying development.
The Big Push is a bold idea.
But bold ideas die with weak execution.
Government must pay on time — and it appears it is doing so.
Contractors must then work on time — with full teams, full equipment, and full seriousness.
And GHA must supervise without fear.
Ghana is not economising on its future.
We are investing in it.
The roads must reflect that investment — built fast, built well, and built now. No more small teams on big jobs.
