President John Dramani Mahama has lauded the contractor in charge of work on the Ofankor-Nsawam Road during a site visit on Wednesday, December 3.

He said, although the contractor initially projected a July 2026 completion date, the current pace suggests an earlier finish, possibly by April. He urged the team to maintain their momentum.

“I am quite impressed with the progress that has been made. I will urge the contractor to continue to push hard. If you push hard, you will be able to finish this road and hand it over so that we can use it,” he stated.

The President reflected on the troubling condition of the project during his previous visit, pointing out that progress had halted mainly due to unpaid contractor fees and delays in carrying out demolitions.

“When we came, we met a road that was moving at a snail’s pace… one major issue was non-payments for work done for a very long time, so I ordered the Roads and Finance Minister to ensure payment was made. More than $70 million was paid to the contractor,” he said.

Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwame Agbodza, has disclosed during an inspection tour of the project with President John Mahama on Wednesday, September 3, that the contractor tasked with the Ofankor-Nsawam road project received all payments owed him.

"Your Excellency, when you assumed office, the majority of the road contractors were off-site because they raised certificates to the tune of over GHS30,000m were not paid, so they were not on site. Including the contractor working on this project.

"You directed that we do whatever we can to make sure they return to the site. Genuinely, people who ply this corridor were going through a lot of difficulties, and you expressed clearly that it wasn't what we wanted, and you directed that all resources should be mobilized to ensure the contractor is paid to continue the work.

"Indeed, Mr President, at the time you took office, the contractor raised a certificate of almost $78m before NPP left power, and they did not pay him. So it was surprising that just after you took office, people were expecting that what they couldn't do over that period, you would do it. Guess what, Mr President, you did it, as of today, every certificate owed to the contractor on this project has been paid entirely. So we don't owe the contractor any amount on this project," he added.

Project Manager for the Pokuase-Nsawam Highway project, Ing. Awuku Asare, while engaging the President, confirmed receiving a recent payment from the government.

He assured that construction works on the project will be completed in June 2026, as 75% of the work has already been done.

"With your support and that of the Minister, the contractor has received some funding, and for the past two weeks, we have been working tirelessly. The areas where we had some challenges, where we saw on social media, we are currently almost at the level of asphalt, and then after we will continue all the way to the end," he noted.

In response, President John Mahama has directed the contractor to meet the project deadline, stressing that no excuses will be accepted thereafter.

The project contractor had earlier expressed pessimism about his outfit being able to complete the road project within nine (9) months. According to him, his team is confronted with several challenges that may necessitate a request for an extension of the completion deadline.

Among the difficulties he highlighted, Ing. Awuku Asare explained that completing the interchange alone would likely take about seven months out of the proposed nine-month duration.

According to him, by the seventh month, they might not have even “completed the top” of the interchange.

“Within 2 or 23 weeks, you must be done with the basic maintenance. Yeah, we have up to May 2026 to complete it, and if there are any snags, they will definitely ask for an extension. And I’m telling you one snag—it’s going to take us about 7 months to complete the interchange.

'But now, if the compensation is done and we are going to count another 3 months up to November, it means we are going to start from November. Then November to May is about 7 months; we wouldn’t have completed the top. Then we… so there will be a basis to ask for any extension if it comes like that…,” he noted.

Another setback that may delay the completion of the project is the legal tussle with affected persons, some of whom have taken the government to court over their eviction, citing delays in compensation.

“Talking about this compensation, we have to—there are some individuals who have sent us to court. In fact, they wanted to even put an injunction on the construction works. But we just had a letter from the engineer, who is the Highway Authority, that the court didn’t grant. So we can go ahead and do the demolitions and complete them,” he added.