Expressway cost could fund Accra-Kumasi highway and rail line – Nyarko Osei to gov’t
New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Akim Swedru Kennedy Nyarko Osei has questioned the government’s decision to pursue the Accra-Kumasi Expressway, arguing that the reported cost could instead have funded both completion of the existing highway and a rail line linking the two cities.
In a Facebook post on Monday, 7 September, Osei said the estimated US$1.7 billion cost of constructing the 304-kilometre Accra-Kumasi railway was lower than the reported cost of the proposed expressway.
Osei argued that government could have completed the existing Accra-Kumasi highway and used the remaining funds to construct the railway, which he said would help reduce traffic and road accidents.
“It will cost the country less to construct the Rail Line from Accra-Kumasi than to construct the new Expressway,” he said.
“Any serious country would have completed the existing Accra-Kumasi highway and use the remaining amount to construct the rail line from Accra-Kumasi to cut down traffic movements and reduce accidents on the road,” he said.
He further argued that the reported cost of the expressway could have covered both projects.
“The project cost of the Expressway could have completed the existing Accra-Kumasi highway and at the same time construct the 304km rail line from Accra-Kumasi,” Osei said.
His comments come after government said the Accra-Kumasi Expressway could become the largest infrastructure project undertaken by a Ghanaian government.
Government Communications Minister Felix Kwakye Ofosu said on 4 September that the project could also test Ghana’s ability to finance large-scale infrastructure development using domestic resources.
Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has said the government expects to secure all funding required for the project by the end of 2026.
Government says the Ghana Armed Forces has so far cleared 170 kilometres of the 176-kilometre corridor earmarked for the proposed expressway, leaving six kilometres outstanding.
Kwakye Ofosu also said the project would be significant if it were fully financed domestically, without reliance on external assistance.
Forson has separately indicated that the government intends to fund the project without borrowing, with US$1.7 billion reportedly already deposited in a dedicated account.
Osei, however, urged political actors to put partisan considerations aside when assessing major infrastructure decisions.
“Let’s put partisan politics aside and think nationalistically,” he said.
