Former Minister for Roads and Highways, Mr. Francis Asenso-Boakye, has accused the current government of misrepresenting the achievements of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the roads sector, calling recent statements by the incumbent Roads Minister, Kwame Governs Agbodza, “misleading” and “deliberately distorted.”
Speaking at a press conference at Parliament House in Accra, the Bantama MP took strong exception to what he described as “a gross attempt to politicise the facts” surrounding road construction works under the previous Akufo-Addo administration.
“The NPP government constructed over 13,000 kilometres of roads — including overlays, new roads, partial reconstruction, gravelling, regravelling, and rehabilitation — not the 10,000km figure being claimed by Mr. Kwame Agbodza,” he stated.
Disputing official figures
Mr. Asenso-Boakye argued that the official records contradict the Roads Minister’s claim of 10,000km.
He clarified that the data in question was compiled by the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of the Ministry of Roads and Highways — a body made up of engineers and technocrats, not politicians.
“The figures were gathered and verified by qualified engineers and civil servants. Any attempt to water down the achievements of the previous administration is not only disingenuous but a direct affront to the hard work of these professionals,” he said.
He urged the current minister to channel his concerns to the Ministry’s Monitoring and Evaluation Unit rather than, in his words, “resorting to propaganda to dishonour President Akufo-Addo’s legacy.”
Accusations of hypocrisy on procurement
Mr. Asenso-Boakye also took issue with what he called the Roads Minister’s “blatant contradiction” regarding the use of single-source procurement in awarding road contracts.
“The same Minister who once criticised the NPP for using single sourcing is now justifying it,” he said, citing the Minister’s own comments at a recent briefing where he reportedly said: “Once the engineers prepare the estimate for road construction, it doesn’t matter the procurement method you use.”
According to the former Roads Minister, such a reversal smacks of political hypocrisy and undermines the Minister’s credibility.
“You cannot demonise a method that others used, only to defend it when you find yourself in the same situation. That is not just double standards — it raises serious questions about your integrity,” Mr. Asenso-Boakye charged.
Call for honest discourse
He concluded by calling on the government and the current leadership at the Ministry of Roads and Highways to approach discussions on national infrastructure development with honesty and transparency, rather than using them as tools for political point-scoring.
Mr. Asenso-Boakye’s comments come amid growing political debate over the state of Ghana’s roads and infrastructure, with both the current and previous administrations touting their records ahead of the 2024 elections.
