The Minister for Roads and Highways, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has explained the circumstances that led to a heated exchange in Parliament with his predecessor, Francis Asenso-Boakye, over the government’s flagship Big Push road infrastructure initiative.

The clash stemmed from sharp criticism by Mr. Asenso-Boakye, who claimed the programme lacked strategic focus and unfairly prioritised less-populated areas over high-density, economically vital regions like Greater Accra and Ashanti. He described the project as “neither balanced, nor big, nor strategic.”

Clarifying on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Mr. Agbodza rejected those claims and firmly defended the design and intent of the Big Push programme.

“My colleague in Parliament, the former Minister for Roads, is a planner and knows better than I do,” Mr. Agbodza said. “One of the reasons young people in Adaklo today will be aiming to come to Accra is because what they want in terms of a better life does not exist in Adaklo.”

He continued, “So if we continue investing in Accra, Kumasi, and our big cities, we are deliberately encouraging them to come here. But the way the Big Push has been selected has nothing to do with that in the first place.”

Mr. Agbodza emphasized that the selected roads are not only essential but also serve real population centers and economic corridors.

“Western Corridor is not a selection of building roads to where people don’t exist,” he explained. “That is Techiman to Wa very critical. In fact, much of the trading with Burkina Faso and other things have to connect all the way from Hamile on that road to Takoradi. So where along that road do we have nobody there?”

He added, “Take Eastern Corridor — which part of the Eastern Corridor doesn’t have people living there? Wa to Bolga, where do we have people not existing there? So I don’t know the premise by which he is talking ”

Reinforcing the commercial value of the roads being developed, Mr. Agbodza questioned the logic of the critique.

“Can anyone underestimate how much economic importance it is for yam and rice to get to us in Accra and Tema?”

He concluded, saying, “The point he makes is as if we are investing where we should not be investing. In any case, we have invested 70 percent or so of our road budget in Accra, Kumasi, and part of the Eastern Region over the years. Did it even solve any problem in Accra?”

Mr. Agbodza insisted the Big Push is a bold, nationwide effort designed to connect regions, open trade routes, and deliver long-overdue infrastructure to both urban and rural communities.