– Roads Minister fumes as Indian firm flees with US$30 million, locals report sleeping contractors
By Gifty Boateng & Prince Ahenkorah
The heat is scorching, but it is not coming from the sun. It is coming from the office of Ghana’s Roads and Highways Minister, Governs Kwame Agbodza, who has declared all-out war on lazy, non-performing road contractors across the country.
In a no-holds-barred nationwide inspection tour that has left the construction industry trembling, Agbodza has issued two-month ultimatums, summoned company bosses for dawn showdowns, and threatened to drag at least one Indian firm to court for allegedly walking away with nearly US$30 million in public funds without laying a single block of asphalt.
“Twenty percent or we terminate. We are not even coming back to negotiate,” the Minister thundered at Maripoma Enterprise Limited during a spot check on the Wenchi-Sawla Lot 7 project. The contractor had received mobilisation funds but had little to show for it.
Agbodza, accompanied by his deputy Alhassan S. Suhuyini, crisscrossed the Western North, Ahafo, Ashanti, Bono and Western regions. What they found was a national disgrace:
· On the Techiman-Nkomsie-Sawla road, a contractor had been paid GH₵66.3 million but after five months had only done surface clearing. The Minister fumed: “This is unacceptable. I will terminate the contract.”
· On the 55km Bediako Junction to Sefwi Adabokrom road Lot 1, five months of work produced less than 2% progress against a target of 20%.
· Arab Contractors, handling the 47km Kumasi Outer Ring Road, were warned their timeline will not be extended “unless an asteroid hits the road.”
· Cymain Ghana Limited was reported by a citizen vigilante, Nana Nsiah Badu, for “sleeping on the job” on the Adwofua-Oseikojokrom road.
“You are not a small company. You have the capacity, but that capacity is not reflecting in your delivery,” Agbodza scolded.
VOLTA IMPEX SUMMONED: GH₵66 Million Gone, Only ‘Fresh Clearing’ to Show?
The Minister’s fury reached boiling point when he inspected Volta Impex, a contractor that reportedly received approximately GH₵66 million in mobilisation payments but showed minimal progress.
When the company attempted to present clearing works as evidence of progress, Agbodza was not fooled.
“This cannot be clearing that was done months ago. It looks like work that started just a few days ago. Nobody is blind,” he snapped.
Local residents backed the Minister, confirming that visible work had only recently begun contradicting the contractor’s claims.
Agbodza has summoned the management and beneficial owners of Volta Impex to appear before the Ministry on Thursday at 8:00 a.m. sharp, together with the Regional Director of Highways. The agenda: review capacity. The likely outcome: termination.
“We will review the program. If it is clear the contractor does not have the capacity, we will terminate,” the Minister warned.
In a shocking revelation, Agbodza disclosed that the government is preparing legal proceedings against JMC Projects, an Indian construction firm.
According to the Minister, Parliament approved a US$158.6 million road project for the company, with completion expected last year. The firm received nearly US$30 million as mobilisation.
Their performance so far? Zero percent. Not even one percent.
“This is an unfortunate situation. They took the money and did not do any meaningful work,” Agbodza revealed.
The Ministry is now working with the Attorney General’s Department to recover every pesewa through the courts. “We intend to pursue this matter vigorously within the law to ensure that public funds are retrieved,” he assured.
In a direct warning to politically connected contractors who have for years hidden behind party affiliations to escape accountability, Agbodza drew a line in the sand.
“We are not doing party politics here. We are building roads for Ghana. If you cannot deliver, you are not part of the agenda,” he declared.
He urged regional ministers to stop allowing contractors to attach politics to their work. “Don’t accept anybody who says he is NDC or NPP,” he stressed.
The Minister also criticised the lazy practice of accepting contractor-generated work schedules. “The fact that a contractor submits a program does not make it acceptable. Contractors must work according to the government’s schedule.”
Agbodza expressed concern that the poor performance of contractors is unfairly shifting public anger onto the presidency, especially with viral criticism circulating on TikTok and other social media platforms.
“Why should the President suffer abuse because contractors are not doing the work after being awarded contracts?” he questioned.
Broadcast journalist Bernard Avle, after watching the Minister’s tour, urged him to “take the bull by the horn” and terminate contracts immediately. Some members of the public have even suggested bringing in foreign contractors if Ghanaian firms are unwilling to work.
The sad development comes almost a year after President John Dramani Mahama launched the Big Push initiative in September 2025 at Afienya, on the outskirts of Accra.
At the launch, the President proudly announced that all road contracts would be deliberately awarded to indigenous Ghanaian firms. “We have gone through a very rigorous procedure to choose the contractors who will work on the Big Push project,” Mahama said. “We have assessed all the contractors and looked at their capacity.”
But almost a year on, what was intended to boost local businesses and entrepreneurship has become the bane of the initiative. Instead of speed and quality, Ghanaians have witnessed snail-paced progress, skeletal equipment on site, and contractors who only appear when they hear the Minister is coming.
Agbodza has served notice: the era of laxity, delays, and poor supervision is over. Contractors who fail to meet expectations will face severe consequences, including:
· Immediate contract termination
· Blacklisting from all future state contracts
· Legal action and forced recovery of public funds
“No contractor is bigger than government. I will terminate you and we meet in court,” the Member of Parliament for Adaklu constituency warned.
The Minister has also called on the media and the general public to closely monitor ongoing projects and hold both contractors and government accountable.
“This is public money. Every Ghanaian deserves value for it,” Agbodza said.