The Minority in Parliament has debunked claims by the Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwame Agbodza, over the stalled Tamale-Walewale Road Project.
Mr Agbodza had claimed that only 1% of work had been done on the project since 2022 despite an advance payment of $30 million to the contractor.
The sector minister added that he was pursuing a refund of the said amount.
In a press statement issued on Tuesday, June 10, the Minority accused the Minister of deliberately misrepresenting facts to score political points.
He describes his recent comments as misleading and politically motivated.
The NPP lawmakers say the Minister is fully aware that the project was lawfully procured, the advance payment was strictly for mobilisation, and the matter is currently under international legal arbitration following funding challenges.
“The matter is under legal arbitration and cannot be resolved through media populism or political grandstanding,” the statement said in part.
The Minority explained that the $29.65 million paid to the contractor was in line with international standards under the FIDIC Yellow Book, and not meant for physical works.
According to them, the payment was backed by a valid Advance Payment Guarantee issued by an Indian bank with Stanbic Bank Ghana as a local correspondent.
They further noted that the mobilisation funds were used for critical preparatory works such as design progression, equipment mobilisation, site office construction, materials procurement, and preliminary civil works.
Funding to the project was cut after Ghana suspended its external debt payments in December 2022, prompting the EXIM Bank of India to halt further disbursements and leading to the eventual cancellation of the remaining loan.
According to the minority, the contractor formally terminated the agreement in March 2024.
Following this, the Ghana Highway Authority triggered a refund process through the Advance Payment Guarantee with the matter now before a court in India, with the Attorney-General’s Department supervising proceedings.
“If the Minister is indeed seeking a refund, then he is merely continuing a contractually triggered recovery process which was already set in motion long before his appointment,” the Minority stated.
