Member of Parliament for Bantama Francis Asemso-Boakye, who served as Roads and Highways Minister, has refuted claims made by President John Dramani Mahama regarding the ongoing Ofankor-Nsawam road project.
The President’s remarks questioning the project’s funding and progress have been labelled by the former minister as a “misrepresentation of well-established facts”.
He stated that the total contract sum for the road is $346.4 million.
Of this, the government secured a $200 million facility from Afreximbank, intended as a partial funding instrument, not to cover the entire cost.
The remaining funds were to be sourced from government budgetary allocations, the Bantama MP said.
“For the President to question… ‘a loan was taken for the project, so why is the money finished and the road undone?’ is misleading,” a government statement released today read. “He knows very well, as the handing-over notes clearly state, unless he has been wrongly briefed, that the Afreximbank facility did not represent the full financing requirement of the project.”
President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, visited two project sites.
The visit followed recent public agitation over delays attributed to unpaid arrears.
Raising concerns about the project’s financing, President Mahama questioned how earlier funds were exhausted before completion.
“A loan was taken for this project. I don’t understand why the money is finished and the project is not over. We’re having to pay a supplementary amount, equivalent to almost $78 million from Government of Ghana funds,” he said.
“We need to find out what happened. Was the estimate not done properly, or what went wrong?”
But Mr Aseno-Boakye described the remarks of the President as inaccurate.
He further urged Ghanaians to “disregard these political distortions,” emphasising that this is “not the time to play politics with infrastructure.”
He maintained that the project’s financing plan was transparent from the outset, and any suggestion that the Afreximbank loan was meant to complete the entire project is inaccurate.
The statement concluded by calling for a focus on “facts, transparency, and steady progress”.
Read his statement below
Statement on President Mahama’s Comments Regarding the Ofankor–Nsawam Road Project
President John Mahama’s comments, today, during his inspection of the Ofankor–Nsawam Road Project are yet another unfortunate attempt to misrepresent well-established facts for political benefits.
The truth is clear and documented. The total contract sum for the rehabilitation of the 33km Ofankor–Nsawam dual carriageway is $346.4 million. Out of this amount, Government of Ghana secured a $200 million facility from Afreximbank to support the financing of the project, not to cover it in its entirety. The Afreximbank facility was always intended to be a partial financing instrument, with the balance to be funded from government budgetary allocations.
For the President to question that; “… a loan was taken for the project, so why is the money finished and the road undone,” is misleading, with the greatest of respect to the president. He knows very well, as the handing-over notes clearly state, unless he has been wrongly briefed, that the Afreximbank facility did not represent the full financing requirement of the project.
We urge all well-meaning Ghanaians to disregard these political distortions.
This is not the time to play politics with infrastructure. It is a time for facts, transparency, and steady progress geared towards the future and development of our beloved country, Ghana.
Ends
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
