Patrick Asuming, a professor at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), has expressed skepticism about the government’s intention to reinstate road tolls.
He pointed out that similar proposals in the past to reintroduce abolished levies did not come to fruition, which fuels his doubts about the current plan.
Asuming criticized the e-levy, deeming it an ineffective tax that should be abolished regardless of whether road tolls return.
He highlighted that despite previous statements about reviving some removed tolls in 2023, no action was taken, leading him to question the current push for road tolls.
The e-levy is a bad tax that should be removed with or without the road tolls.
I am very suspicious that these road tolls will be back. In 2023 they stated that they were going to bring back some tolls that were removed but we didn’t hear anything about it. Now you are saying this.
“I am not sure there is a real intention to bring back the road tolls. It was a bad idea to remove the road tolls,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, July 27.
The government’s move to reintroduce road tolls, initially scrapped in 2021, was recently confirmed by Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam.
He announced that Cabinet has approved a framework for their reimplementation in 2025 during the mid-year budget review on July 23.
“Let us go back to a system of broad-based road tolls. The tolling system has to come back, and I think it will come back.
“It is a fundamental mistake of the government to place all road projects on the budget. The government doesn’t have enough money and the private sector has to be brought in,” he noted.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s flagbearer, has supported the return of road tolls as a necessary step for enhancing road infrastructure.
He argues that the current funding methods are insufficient and that road tolling could offer a solution by involving the private sector in infrastructure development.
The decision to cancel road toll collections in 2021 was intended to be offset by the introduction of the e-levy.
However, the e-levy has not met expectations, leading the government to consider reinstating road tolls in 2025.