Mahama’s roads will change lives – Agbodza tells Upper West farmers

Roads and Highways Minister Governs Kwame Agbodza says Ghana is witnessing the biggest road project in Africa; Wa-Bole road to be completed by 2027.

He says for the yam farmer in Yendi, the rice farmer in the Northeast, and the sick patient in an ambulance, President John Mahama’s massive road transformation is not about kilometers of asphalt- it is about survival.

That was the message from the Roads and Highways Minister on President Mahama’s Resetting Ghana Tour in the Upper West Region.

According to him, Ghana is currently witnessing what is possibly the largest road infrastructure project happening at a particular time in Africa. “The kind of investment you are putting into the road infrastructure of our country has never ever been seen in our lifetime,” he told the President, to loud applause.

Wa-Bole Road: That Abandoned Road Will Be Done
For the people of Upper West, the news they have waited decades for finally came. The Wa to Bole road – a road many had written off due to its deplorable state, abandoned by the previous government and seen as an impossible mission to fix, will be completed.

“I want to assure my brothers and sisters in Upper West that the road from Wa to Bole shall be completed by the end of 2027,” Mr Agbodza assured.

He said work is also aggressively ongoing on the critical Western Corridor – from Sawla all the way to Wa.

In a moment that drew laughter and applause, the minister revealed his desire for urgent completion of the project for Wa West and after listening to the concerns of the MP for WA West, Supt. (Retd) Peter Lanchene Toobu and his constituents, he ordered immediate action.

“My Regional Feeder Roads Director, I asked him to follow me, he’s sitting behind me. I told him to abandon the church at Jirapa tomorrow and go with Hon. Toobu to site tomorrow to make sure that by Wednesday I get a full report,” he disclosed.

Beyond Roads: Market, School, Hospital
Mr. Agbodza said the President’s roads are a catalyst for a new economic transformation. “The yam farmer at Yendi would require less time to travel from Yendi on the Eastern Corridor to Tamale to sell the yam when these roads are completed,” he explained.

“And I don’t think anyone wants to be driven in an ambulance on a road littered with potholes,” he added, noting that healthcare and education will all benefit as bridges now connect cut-off schools.

4 more roads coming + praises for local contractor
The Minister announced that Upper West will benefit from four major projects under the World Bank-funded Ghana Market Access Programme before the end of the year, with four more to start this month under the Road Maintenance Trust Fund.

He singled out a rising Upper West contractor, Astee Company Limited, for praise. “From the very first day we gave him work, he’s always ahead of schedule,” he said. “Whenever communities say ‘there is a portion leading to our village’, even though that is not part of his work, he moves in to help them.”

We paid 25 billion out of 40 billion debt
On financing, Mr. Agbodza revealed that the previous government left a road sector debt of almost 40 billion cedis, out of which President Mahama has already paid almost 25 billion cedis. “No government has ever deployed the size of resources you are putting into our road sector today,” he said.

He said unlike other governments that abandon projects started by opponents, President Mahama has directed that every inherited project must be completed. He however, pleaded with MPs and communities whose roads have not yet started to be patient so the government can sustainably complete phase one before rolling out phase two after 2028.

“No one was happy about the road in their neighbourhood. You made it a point that when given the opportunity, you would make the kind of investment that we have never seen before. And you have,” he said in compliment to President Mahama.