Accra-Tema Motorway: Where is the urgency?

For thousands of motorists, passengers and businesses that depend on the Accra-Tema Motorway, travelling on this important national corridor has become an exhausting and increasingly dangerous experience.

Some inconvenience is unavoidable when a major road is being reconstructed. However, what commuters are witnessing raises legitimate questions about the pace of work, construction-site management and accountability.

On many days, one can travel along long sections of the motorway and see only pockets of activity. There are stretches where few workers or active machines are visible. Heaps of sand, gravel and other materials remain by the roadside for prolonged periods, sometimes with little observable progress.

Work appears intensive during certain periods, only to slow down afterwards. To the ordinary commuter, the project does not seem to be moving with the consistency and urgency that such an important national road deserves.

This is not an ordinary road. The motorway connects Accra with Tema, Ghana’s leading industrial and port city. It carries workers, commercial vehicles, emergency services, port traffic and goods moving across Ghana and beyond. Prolonged disruption therefore affects productivity, fuel consumption, business costs and public safety.

Safety cannot be secondary

Traffic management around the construction zone is particularly worrying. Some warning and directional signs appear inadequate, while others are difficult to see at night because they lack sufficient reflective visibility.

Drivers unfamiliar with the changing diversions can easily enter the wrong lane. Construction materials and poorly marked diversions create additional dangers, especially at night and during rainfall.

There are also concerns about unauthorised openings and U-turns being created along the road. A national motorway cannot become a corridor where individuals create access points at their convenience.

The contractor, Ghana Highway Authority, National Road Safety Authority and Ghana Police Service must jointly control access, improve signage and enforce traffic regulations. Reflective signs, clear lane markings, warning lights, barriers and properly supervised diversions are basic requirements for protecting life.

What followed the ministerial inspection?

The Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, inspected parts of the project during a Greater Accra regional tour in March 2026. Utility relocation was identified as one of the challenges affecting construction. Electricity and water infrastructure within the right of way reportedly caused work to be suspended at some locations.

This explanation deserves consideration. Nevertheless, it cannot become an indefinite excuse.

What actions followed the inspection? Which institutions were instructed to relocate the utilities? What deadlines were established, and have they been met? What percentage of the project has been completed?

The public needs more than assurances that work is progressing. The Ministry should publish an implementation schedule showing the major milestones, completion rate, challenges and revised delivery dates.

Is the contractor overstretched?

There are also concerns that the contractor associated with the motorway may be undertaking other major projects simultaneously. The Ministry must clarify this.

Which government projects are currently being handled by the contractor? What labour, machinery and financial resources have been committed specifically to the motorway? Are workers and machines being moved among different sites?

Awarding several projects to one contractor is not necessarily improper if the company has the capacity to deliver them. However, government must demonstrate that proper capacity assessments were conducted before the awards.

A contractor should not be allowed to stretch its workforce and machinery across projects if that delays every one of them. Ghana must learn to concentrate resources on completing priority projects.

Parliament must demand answers

Public officials use this road too. Ministers and Members of Parliament experience the congestion, poor diversions, dust and safety risks. They cannot claim to be unaware of what ordinary citizens endure.

Parliament should demand a comprehensive briefing from the Minister, Ghana Highway Authority and contractor. The briefing should cover progress, financing, contractor capacity, utility relocation, safety management and the official completion date.

This should not become a partisan matter. Roads constructed with public resources belong to all Ghanaians, regardless of which government initiated or inherited them.

The Ministry should also publish a monthly performance dashboard showing work completed, work planned, delays encountered and corrective measures taken.

The Accra-Tema Motorway cannot remain a seemingly endless construction zone. It is too important to Ghana’s economy, public safety and national productivity.

Honourable Minister, Parliament, Ghana Highway Authority and the contractor: Ghanaians need urgency, transparency and sustained progress.

It is our road. It is our money. We deserve answers.

By Clement Wiredu

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