Former Roads and Highways Minister, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has dismissed remarks by President John Dramani Mahama regarding the financing of the ongoing Ofankor–Nsawam Road Project, describing them as misleading and politically motivated.
Mr. Asenso-Boakye clarified that the 33-kilometer dual carriageway was awarded at a total contract cost of $346.4 million, out of which a $200 million facility from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) was secured to partly finance the project. The remainder, he explained, was to be covered through budgetary allocations from the Government of Ghana.
“The Afreximbank facility was always structured as partial financing. It was never intended to fully cover the project cost,” he said.
His response follows Mr. Mahama’s inspection of the project earlier in the day, during which the former President reportedly questioned why the road remains incomplete despite the Afreximbank loan.
According to Mr. Asenso-Boakye, such claims do not reflect the facts documented in official handing-over notes. “For the President to suggest that the funds have been exhausted without the road being completed is inaccurate, unless he has been wrongly briefed. He knows very well that the Afreximbank facility did not represent the full financing requirement,” he emphasized.
The former Minister further urged Ghanaians to disregard what he termed “political distortions” and instead rally behind efforts to complete vital infrastructure projects.
“This is not the time to play politics with infrastructure,” he stated. “It is a time for facts, transparency, and steady progress to advance the development of our beloved country.”
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