The intention to build a new Accra-Kumasi Expressway will not be a substitute for the existing N6 Accra-Kumasi Highway, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has reiterated, adding that it does not mean the government is going to abandon the ongoing construction works on three bypasses and the rehabilitation of the road.

He said the dualisation of the existing N6 highway project was a major priority for the government and that it is supposed to complement the new Accra-Kumasi Expressway, which will run through the Oda and Ofoase Ayirebi area.

“I want to put on record that the government's intention to build a new road from Accra to Kumasi, called the Accra-Kumasi expressway, is not a substitute for the existing Accra-Kumasi highway. It is supposed to complement that project,” he said.

The minister was speaking in an engagement with contractors and consultants working on the existing N6 Accra-Kumasi highway at Bunso in the Eastern Region on Monday, May 11, 2026.

Mr Agbodza said, “So nobody should be afraid of the fact that because we are doing the Accra-Kumasi expressway, it means this road is no longer a government priority. 

“So let everybody in the country be assured that the two projects are priorities to the government,” he said.

The engagement was to allow the minister to assess progress on the three bypasses being constructed along the Accra-Kumasi highway at Osino, Anyinam, and Konongo, and to determine how to fast-track their completion.

He was accompanied by the Deputy Roads Minister, Alhassan Suhuyini; the Chief Executive of the Ghana Highways Authority, Mallam Isaah Ishak; the Chief Director of the Roads and Highways Ministry, James Amoo-Gottfried, as well as the Eastern Regional Minister,  Rita Akosua Awatey.

The minister said that, under the ECOWAS convention Ghana had signed up to, when building an expressway, there was also a need to construct an alternative road. 

He said expressways were supposed to be commercial, with drivers paying to travel from Accra to Kumasi in two hours.

“But somebody can decide I want to do the existing Accra-Kumasi in five hours, six hours, and that is a choice for the person to do,” he said. 

With the level of investment being injected into the expressway and existing Accra-Kumasi highway, Mr Agbodza said both roads would be completed on time and tolled.

“By our expectation, if everything goes well, we should be able to complete your outstanding works by the end of 2027, he told the contractors.

He, therefore,  assured his ministry’s commitment to work with all contractors to finish the project by 2027.

Despite the bypass construction suffering major setbacks that had made its completion very difficult, Mr Agbodza assured contractors who had mobilised to the site that the “government’s intention is not to suspend or cancel any project we inherited”. 

The biggest challenge to the project, he said, was the way it was put together, which mixed major contents of the scope. “Obviously, once the scope changed, the costs completely went out of the budget, and many of you could not find your way out, whether the government was still interested. 

“I must put on record this project stalled before the 2024 elections, and President Mahama's government directive was to make sure all projects go ahead”, he said.