On the second day of their tour of the Big Push road projects, the Upper West Parliamentary Caucus, led by Daffiama-Bussie-Issa MP, Dr. Sebastian Sandaare, joined the Upper West Regional Minister, Charles Lwanga Puozuing, and the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to inspect ongoing works on the N12 Bole-Sawla-Wa highway.

At whistle stops in Tuna, Kulmasa and Gindabuo, the delegation observed road clearing, drainage works, repairs to damaged sections and asphalt-related activities—evidence, they said, that work on the long-troubled route is actively progressing.

“It is not as we have been hearing that there is no work being done. So far, we are impressed,” Regional Minister Charles Lwanga Puozuing said after inspecting the sites.

He commended the contractor but urged the company to increase the pace of construction.

“We are pleading with him to speed up and possibly add additional gangs to ensure these roads are sped up and finished within schedule or before schedule,” he said.

The Regional Minister also offered a firm assurance to residents of the Upper West Region that the road would be asphalted before the end of President Mahama’s current term.

“I assure the people of Upper West that His Excellency John Dramani Mahama will ensure that before he leaves at the end of 2028 or 6th January 2029, this road will be asphalted for us to conveniently travel to the southern part of Ghana,” he said.

The presence of the Regional Security Council, comprising the police, military and other security authorities, was intended not only to assess progress but also to assure contractors and workers that they would have the security needed to operate beyond normal working hours.

Samuel Asante, Site Manager and Quantity Surveyor for Melpuoma Limited, told the delegation that work crews have been operating throughout the week, with some concrete gangs working as late as 2 a.m.

The project, which is scheduled for completion in 2028, is currently about four per cent complete. Project managers expressed confidence that the pace of work could enable them to finish ahead of schedule.

For Wa West MP and former police chief, Supt. (Rtd) Peter Lanchene Toobu, the Big Push is increasingly moving beyond political rhetoric and becoming visible on the ground.

“When His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama made an emphatic statement that he was going to turn Ghana into a construction site, some of us thought he was joking. But with the Big Push, Ghana has actually become a construction site. I am a beneficiary of the Big Push budget,” Toobu said.

The MP, whose constituency includes communities along the stretch from Dorimon through Tanina to Wa, said the employment created by the project was particularly significant from a security perspective.

“From the security angle, I am looking at the number of people employed. The devil finds work for idle hands. Everybody is busy on the road—young men and women. I saw a young lady with a shovel and I went to assist her,” he said.

He further argued that improved road infrastructure could directly contribute to reducing crime.

“The fact that the road will be done very soon, it reduces the number of robberies on the road. Road infrastructure is actually an anchor to development,” Toobu added.

Wa East MP Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw, while expressing satisfaction with the quality of work observed, urged authorities and the contractor to explore additional benefits from the construction process.

He proposed that some of the gravel pits created during construction be converted into dugouts capable of storing water for livestock during the long dry season.

“Being an agricultural area, my emphasis is that some of these gravel pits being created should be converted to dugouts that can impound water for our animals to survive the long dry seasons,” he said.

According to Dr. Jasaw, the proposal could provide a “low-hanging fruit dividend” by addressing both infrastructure and water challenges in the agricultural communities.

He also commended the project for creating jobs and urged the contractor to equip young people with practical skills that would remain valuable after the road project is completed.

Caucus Leader Dr. Sebastian Sandaare said the delegation could clearly see a difference between the current state of the project and what they observed during an earlier visit about four months ago.

“We can see and testify that the Big Push project is working. It is pushing! I was with the Minister some four months ago on this very road. Comparing then and now, the testimony is that work is ongoing actively,” he said.

However, he stressed that the MPs would continue to monitor the project on behalf of residents rather than simply praise the government and contractors.

“We share the residents' concern. We are the people. We represent the people. We are not just praising them so that when we leave, they go back and sleep. Our people just want to see you on the road working—day and night,” Dr. Sandaare said.

He announced that the caucus intends to return in the last quarter of 2026 to assess whether the pace of work has been sustained.

“We will come again to see whether after our visit you improved, or you went back to rest,” he warned.

Dr. Sandaare also set out the broader objective of the project: to dramatically cut travel times between the Upper West Region and Accra.

“Continue to do more good work so that by 2028, nobody travelling from Upper West Region to Accra will spend 24 hours on the road. No more, under the NDC government,” he said.

Despite the progress observed, the N12 remains riddled with potholes and damaged sections that continue to slow motorists and make journeys difficult.

But for the first time in years, construction machinery is reportedly operating well beyond daylight hours, while REGSEC is providing security for the accelerated works.

For residents and commuters who have endured the notorious highway, the hope is that the noise of machinery will eventually replace the frustration of potholes—and that the promised completion of the N12 will finally make the long, difficult journey from the Upper West Region to southern Ghana a thing of the past.