Ghana’s Ministry of Roads and Highways is escalating legal efforts to recover US$29.6 million paid to Indian construction firm JMC Projects (India) Limited, after the company abandoned the Tamale–Savelugu–Walewale road project having completed barely one percent of the work.
Roads and Highways Minister Governs Kwame Agbodza confirmed that the ministry is working with the Office of the Attorney General to pursue the recovery of the funds, describing the situation as deeply troubling given the country’s existing debt to local contractors.
“We intend next week to work with the Attorney-General to further pursue getting our money back within the law,” Agbodza stated.
The US$158.6 million contract, funded by the Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank) of India, covered Phase 1 of the 113-kilometre road connecting Savelugu to Walewale in the Northern Region. The project commenced in June 2022 and was expected to reach completion by December 2025. Instead, the contractor issued a notice of termination on March 11, 2024, at which point only one percent of work had been executed, and subsequently attempted to remove its equipment from the site to another project in Guinea without ministerial approval.
Compounding the controversy, the firm later rebranded itself as Kalpataru Projects International Limited, and reportedly rushed to an Indian court to block Ghana’s recovery efforts after the government initiated legal proceedings.
The mobilisation payment of US$29.6 million represented 20 percent of the total contract value. The contractor also sought an additional US$14 million as a termination settlement, a demand the government rejected outright.
Agbodza noted the stark irony of the situation. At the time the funds were paid to JMC, Ghana owed local road contractors more than GH¢21 billion for work they had legitimately completed, yet resources were found to pay a foreign firm that delivered nothing of substance.
The Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) had previously written to the contractor rejecting its move to demobilise, arguing that equipment brought into Ghana under tax exemptions and funded through the advance mobilisation payment remained subject to government oversight until post-termination procedures were concluded.
The ministry says the legal action forms part of a broader commitment to enforce accountability in public procurement and protect value for money in infrastructure contracts.
