Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Lawyer Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has accused the government of engaging in what he describes as “illegality, thievery, and hypocrisy” following a leaked Ministry of Finance document approving over GHC 50.9 billion for road projects under the ‘Big Push Programme’ without parliamentary approval.
The document, titled “Commitment Authorisation for Projects Under the Big Push Programme”, and allegedly signed by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, purports to grant approval to the Ministry of Roads and Highways to commit the government to multi-year expenditures covering 2025, 2026, and 2027 for major road infrastructure works across the country.
According to the letter shared by the Old Tafo MP on his official Facebook handle, the Ministry of Finance allegedly authorized a total of GHC 50,986,620,125.28 over three years with GHC 7.6 billion allocated for 2025, GHC 30.6 billion for 2026, and GHC 12.7 billion for 2027 to fund the rehabilitation, upgrading, and construction of several major highways and feeder roads nationwide.
However, Hon. Assafuah argues that this alleged authorization constitutes a direct breach of Article 181 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 33 of the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act, which require parliamentary approval for any financial commitments binding the government beyond one fiscal year.
Citing Section 33(1) of the PFM Act in a public statement issued by him, the MP noted that “a covered entity shall not enter into any agreement that binds the government for more than one financial year except where such commitment has the prior written approval of the Minister and is authorised by Parliament.” He contended that the multi-year approval issued by the Ministry of Finance lacked such parliamentary endorsement, rendering it “illegal and unconstitutional.”
“From the correspondence, it is clear that the Ministry of Finance has given a multi-year expenditure approval to the Roads Ministry without parliamentary approval, in blatant breach of the PFM Act,” he said.
Hon. Assafuah also criticized the financial prudence of the government’s decision, noting that while Parliament approved GHC 13 billion for the Big Push Programme in the 2025 Budget, the Ministry of Finance has committed to spending nearly GHC 51 billion over three years, far exceeding the approved budget ceiling.
He warned that such actions would inevitably lead to the accumulation of arrears and fiscal pressures, given the government’s revenue constraints. “The government is struggling with revenue to undertake these projects, as demonstrated by the approved amount of GHC 7.6 billion in 2025 against a budget of GHC 13 billion. This will most definitely result in arrears running into billions of cedis,” he said.
The MP further questioned the cost of some of the listed projects, describing them as “inflated and unjustifiable.” He cited the construction of the Enchi–Elubo Road (71.25km) estimated at GHC 1.4 billion, which translates to roughly USD 1.7 million per kilometre. “How much then is a kilometre of road under this government in the face of their own narrative of reduced inflation and cedi stabilization?” he quizzed, comparing it to what the ruling party previously criticized as excessive costs under the former administration.
Hon. Assafuah said the World Bank and IMF could not “feign ignorance” of what he termed fiscal recklessness, given their endorsement of the government’s current economic management framework. “They accepted this government’s narrative of the previous government as reckless and fiscally indisciplined because of accumulated arrears. The big question is, which narrative will be accepted of this government? Such hypocrisy!” he remarked.
The Big Push Programme, first announced as part of Ghana’s infrastructure development agenda, aims to modernize the nation’s infrastructure and road network through massive public investment. The projects listed in the Ministry of Finance document span the Upper, Techiman–Wa, Eastern, Western, and Greater Accra Corridors, including the rehabilitation of the Tema–Aflao Road, reconstruction of the Dodowa–Afienya–Dawhenya Road, and dualisation of sections of the Cape Coast–Takoradi Road.
The alleged letter from the Ministry of Finance, dated July 2025, has cautioned that contracts under the authorization should be awarded strictly in Ghana cedis, without price variations, advance mobilization, and must comply with the Public Procurement and PFM Acts.
But for Hon. Assafuah, the entire transaction “represents a government of illegality, thievery, and hypocrisy” that must be called out for undermining parliamentary oversight and breaching the country’s fiscal governance framework.
“Nyame nkoaa ne nokwarefo,” he concluded in a Facebook post, invoking the Akan phrase meaning, “Only God is truthful.”
Source: Purefmonlinegh.com || Evans Osei-Bonsu || 2025
