The New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Upper East Region has credited the previous Akufo–Addo administration’s €128 million financing arrangement for the progress made on the Bolgatanga–Bawku–Pulmakom Road, which the current government reports is 95% complete.
According to the party, the road project recorded no physical progress in 2016, despite the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government awarding a contract for its construction in September of that year.
Addressing journalists at the Kulaa Bridge, the Upper East Regional Communications Director of the NPP, Dr Samuel Akonga, accused the previous NDC administration of failing to adequately address the deteriorating condition of the road during its eight years in office.
“For years, the condition of this road has remained one of the foremost development concerns of the people of the Upper East Region. The people will recall that from 2009-2016, despite years of complaints, the NDC spent 8 years in office without paying heed to the plights of the people,” he stated.
Dr Akonga said the project was awarded in September 2016, approximately three months before the general election, without a dedicated financing arrangement.
He argued that relying on the Road Fund, which financed several other road projects across the country, contributed to the project’s slow progress.
“The absence of a dedicated funding arrangement is a critical part of this history. The project was left to depend on the Road Fund, which also had to support numerous other road projects across the country,” he said.
Citing government records, Dr Akonga claimed that the Ghana Highway Authority identified December 7, 2016, the date of the general election, as the project’s commencement date.
He further referenced page 101 of the 2018 Budget Statement, which he said recorded the road at 0% physical progress in 2016 and 13% in 2017.
“These are figures in an official government budget document, available for public verification,” he stated.
According to him, the figures demonstrated that the NDC administration left office without making significant physical progress on the project.
“The implication is clear: after 8 years in office, the NDC left the project with no completed road corridor and an inadequate funding arrangement,” he argued.
Dr Akonga maintained that the Akufo-Addo administration inherited the project in January 2017 and subsequently took steps to address its financing challenges.
He said the NPP government secured €128 million from ICBC Standard Bank in the United Kingdom to support construction of the road.
“Under the NPP administration, efforts were made to address these funding challenges and sustain construction. It is instructive to say that the NPP government secured 128 million euros from ICBC Standard Bank of the United Kingdom to execute the project,” he said.
Although acknowledging that the NPP did not complete the road before leaving office, Dr Akonga insisted that substantial progress had been made, with much of the road becoming motorable.
He identified the Kulaa Bridge and bridges over the White Volta and Red Volta as some of the critical sections where work remained outstanding.
The NPP Regional Communications Director also cited page 74 of the 2026 Budget Statement, which he said reported that the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakom Road was 95% complete.
He argued that the reported progress demonstrated the contribution of the previous administration to the project.
“Our position is straightforward: taking a project recorded at 0% physical progress in 2016 to a stage at which the current government reports 95% completion is a record that deserves recognition, even as we acknowledge that the work remains unfinished,” he stated.
A1 Radio | 101.1 MHz | David Azure | Bolgatanga
