The Minority in Parliament is urging the government to decap the Road Fund entirely, allowing it to finance only road projects and pay contractor debts.
The minority says it will support the reinstatement of road tolls only if the government accepts its proposal.
It follows the proposed rate increase in response to the government’s decision to reintroduce road tolls after abolishing them in 2021.
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The Earmarked Funds Capping and Realignment Act, 2017 (Act 947) of the constitution empowers the finance minister to direct a portion of road tolls to the Road Fund managed by the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the remainder to other uses.
Governs Kwame Agbodza, the Minority Chief Whip and a Ranking Member of Parliament’s Roads and Transport Committee, told Citi News that the government’s decision to reintroduce road tolls will only be accepted if the tolls are de-capped.
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“The only way the Minority will be interested in this discussion at all, is to get an assurance that the road fund will totally be de-capped so that the numerous contractors who have worked and whose certificates are lying in the Ministry and other agencies will have the ability to get their monies paid to them so that they can be back to site to fix roads. We will not support the government’s decision to reinstate the toll if it only generates GHS 2.4 billion, of which only GHS 1 billion is used for roads and the remainder for the National Cathedral.