By Daniel Bampoe
Fresh controversy has erupted over the financing of the proposed Accra-Kumasi Expressway after the Minority in Parliament rejected the government’s explanation regarding the GH¢10.92 billion captured as expenditure for the project in the 2025 Whole-of-Government Accounts, insisting that the Mahama administration must publish a comprehensive breakdown of how the money has been utilised.
The dispute stems from the Auditor-General’s 2025 Whole-of-Government Accounts, which recorded GH¢10,916,912,468.56 as expenditure under the Accra-Kumasi Expressway programme, making it the single largest allocation among all government flagship projects for the year.
The disclosure immediately triggered questions from the Minority, who argued that the project has not progressed beyond preparatory works and therefore could not have legitimately incurred expenditure of nearly GH¢11 billion.
Leading the criticism, Member of Parliament for Akyem Swedru and Co-Chair of the NPP Roads Sector Policy Committee, Kennedy Osei Nyarko, questioned how government could report such a huge expenditure when the main engineering and civil construction contract has not even been awarded.
According to him, the Ghana Armed Forces, which has been undertaking the clearing of the Right of Way for the project, is still carrying out preparatory works, making the reported expenditure difficult to reconcile with the current stage of implementation.
In a statement issued on behalf of the Road Sector Policy Committee of the New Patriotic Party, the Minority acknowledged that as of June 25, 2026, approximately 89.5 kilometres, representing 50.9 percent of the proposed corridor, had been cleared by the military.
However, the Minority argued that the reported GH¢10.92 billion expenditure goes far beyond what has been publicly observed on the ground and therefore requires a detailed public accounting.
The opposition lawmakers have consequently called on the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Roads and Highways and all implementing agencies to publish a comprehensive expenditure report showing precisely how the funds were committed, which institutions or contractors received payments, the specific works undertaken and the timelines for every disbursement.
According to the Minority, public infrastructure projects are financed with taxpayers’ money and every Ghanaian has a constitutional right to know how such significant public resources are being utilised.
The caucus believes publication of the expenditure details would strengthen transparency, improve public confidence and demonstrate government’s commitment to accountability in the execution of one of its flagship infrastructure programmes.
Despite the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department issuing a clarification on Thursday, July 16, dismissing suggestions that government had physically spent GH¢11 billion on construction works, the Minority says the explanation fails to answer the substantive questions being raised.
The Controller and Accountant-General explained that the amount reflected an accounting treatment rather than actual construction expenditure.
According to the Department, government established the Accra-Kumasi Expressway Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), to implement the project after Parliament approved the concession arrangement.
It explained that proceeds from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) and mineral royalties were transferred from the Consolidated Fund into a dedicated Bank of Ghana account for the SPV.
The Controller and Accountant-General stressed that under Ghana’s Public Financial Management framework, once funds are transferred from Central Government to another government entity such as a State-Owned Enterprise, the transfer is recorded as expenditure in the accounts of Central Government and as revenue in the books of the receiving institution.
According to the Department, this accounting treatment does not mean the money has been spent on construction.
It further clarified that no payments have yet been made to contractors and that the funds remain in the dedicated Bank of Ghana account pending commencement of project execution.
The Department also stated that the ongoing right-of-way clearance being undertaken by the Ghana Armed Forces is a separate preparatory activity and is not being financed from the GH¢10.92 billion allocation.
However, the Minority has rejected the explanation as inadequate.
According to Kennedy Osei Nyarko, information available to the opposition indicates that the Ghana Armed Forces has received less than GH¢30 million from government for clearing nearly 100 kilometres of the Right of Way, making it difficult to understand how government reported almost GH¢11 billion under the project.
He described the Controller and Accountant-General’s clarification as “hollow and flimsy” and insisted that Ghanaians deserve more than technical accounting explanations.
The Minority argues that if the money has merely been transferred into a special-purpose account, government should publish the full financial records of the project, including bank statements, payment schedules, procurement arrangements and all supporting documentation.
The caucus warned that if government fails to voluntarily disclose the information, it will petition the Right to Information Commission to compel the release of the complete expenditure details.
The Accra-Kumasi Expressway remains one of President John Dramani Mahama’s flagship infrastructure initiatives intended to transform transportation between the two largest cities by reducing travel time, improving road safety and stimulating economic growth.
