Roads and Highways Minister Kwame Governs Agbodza has firmly rejected allegations that the Dodo Pepesu–Nkwanta road rehabilitation contract under the government’s flagship Big Push infrastructure programme was inflated by as much as GH¢120 million, insisting the figures cited by critics are misleading and inconsistent with verified project data.
The minister, addressing Parliament on Tuesday, March 24, pushed back against a broader wave of scrutiny following an investigative report by The Fourth Estate, which used Right to Information (RTI) requests to allege that 81 sole-sourced contracts valued at more than GH¢73 billion were awarded within seven months under the Big Push initiative. Critics singled out specific contracts, including the Dodo Pepesu–Nkwanta road rehabilitation, where the official valuation of GH¢683.9 million was challenged as significantly overpriced.
Agbodza dismissed such cost-per-kilometre comparisons as oversimplified, arguing they fail to account for the full engineering scope of the projects involved. He noted that several lots under the programme incorporate interchanges, bridges, drainage systems, and safety infrastructure that naturally elevate unit costs. The minister maintained that initial surveys, design, and costing are conducted in-house by state agencies, a system he said saves billions of cedis and ensures independent contractor assessments before any payment is released.
On the wider sole-sourcing controversy, Agbodza told Parliament that only 44 percent of all major contracts under the Big Push were procured through sole sourcing, rejecting claims circulating online that put the figure at 76 percent. He also disclosed that 23 road projects were awarded through sole-sourced contracts, valued at GH¢14.8 billion, with such decisions made to ensure timely delivery of critical infrastructure.
The minister revealed that these 23 projects, originally awarded by the previous administration and later abandoned by contractors due to a lack of dedicated funding, were absorbed into the Big Push initiative.
Agbodza also disclosed that over GH¢11 billion has been paid to contractors to address inherited arrears, and assured Parliament that the government has not abandoned any ongoing project.
The Minority Caucus, represented by Kennedy Osei Nyarko, Ranking Member of Parliament’s Roads and Transportation Committee, demanded full public disclosure of all Big Push contracts, pointing to what it described as a contradiction between the government’s actual procurement record and President John Mahama’s repeated public commitments to minimise sole sourcing.
National Democratic Congress (NDC) Communications Officer and Ghana GoldBod Chief Executive Sammy Gyamfi defended the government’s position, saying there was not a scintilla of evidence to support claims of wrongdoing, and that all sole-sourced contracts received the necessary approval from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) and underwent value-for-money audits.
The Big Push programme, launched in 2025, covers more than 2,000 kilometres of roads across all 16 regions and is structured around 12 major economic corridors, with Parliament having approved nearly GH¢50 billion for multi-year road and bridge projects.
