Ghana’s new Minister of Roads and Highways, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has announced plans to reintroduce road tolls, noting that many countries use toll proceeds to fund road maintenance.
The decision to suspend toll collection under the former Minister, Amoako Atta, has raised concerns about the impact on road maintenance, given the country’s deteriorating road network.
Previously, toll collection contributed to funding road maintenance. However, the Ministry of Roads and Highways abruptly halted toll collection nationwide in 2021, effective November 18, to reduce traffic congestion at toll booths and in anticipation of implementing the e-levy.
The decision to scrap toll collection was made with the expectation that the e-levy would generate sufficient funds. However, the e-levy has not met expectations, prompting the need to reintroduce road tolls.
In an interview on TV3 on Monday, June 10, the Bantama MP stressed the importance of tolling roads, noting that tolling is common practice in many countries.
“In many countries, they use the toll that we collect from the roads to finance maintenance. So, at our ministry, we have started the process by engaging the various stakeholders to get their buy-in to make sure that we bring the road toll back. This is very important. I have never seen any serious country where they don’t toll their road,” he said.