The Minority in Parliament has described as illegal the decision by the Roads and Highways Ministry to suspend the implementation of the National Roads Authority Act.

The Act merged the Ghana Highway Authority, the Department of Urban Roads, and the Department of Feeder Roads.

However, just a few weeks into its implementation, the new Roads and Highways Minister, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has suspended the Act.

Speaking on the floor of the House on Tuesday, February 11, former chairman of the Roads and Transport Committee and MP for Akim Swedru, Kennedy Osei Nyarko, stated the Act was passed by Parliament and that Article 93(2) makes it clear that legislative authority is vested in the House to make any changes.

He demanded urgent action from Parliament to address what he described as an illegal act.

“Mr Speaker, it is an illegal attempt by the Ministry (Roads and Highways) to suspend an Act which has been passed by Parliament without any recourse of the House.

“If the Ministry has any issue with the Act, the best remedy or the procedure they have to take is to come to the House and make sure the proper thing is done,” he stated.

Mr Nyarko continued; “For them to unilaterally issue a press statement to suspend an Act of Parliament which Members of this House passed this very important Act just for the Ministry to turn away - I’m surprised the minister, Kwame Governs Agbodza under his supervision, he will allow such an illegality to happen.”

This, he stated if not checked, will undermine the authority and legislative powers of Parliament.

Reacting to these comments, the Roads and Highways Minister, Kwame Governs Agbodza, provided a rationale for his decision.

He explained that the Act has caused significant unrest among agencies under his Ministry.

“Its implementation has generated significant unrest between the entities under the Ministries - Feeder Roads, Urban Roads and Highways,” he said.

He further explained that after meeting with all the agencies, the consensus was to suspend the implementation of the Act and carry out further consultations.

The Roads and Highways Minister noted that concerns were raised regarding who should lead the National Roads Authority (NRA), pointing out that the Director of Urban Roads is currently the Acting Chief Director while still holding his previous position.

“They are complaining that it should be clear as to whether only one entity can have the leadership of NRA, IE, Urban Roads, or Feeder Roads. So we are saying that we suspend the implementation for now,” he said.

Expressing surprise at the comments made by the Akim Swedru MP, Mr Agbodza stated that while Parliament passes laws, their implementation is the responsibility of the entity that sponsored them.

“There’s no ill-motive to this, it’s basically to make it work better for the people who the law has been made for,” he clarified.

He added that in the coming weeks, the Ministry will engage with the Committee on Roads and Transport in Parliament to provide further updates on the situation.

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, stated that he agrees with the concerns raised.

He directed the Roads and Highways Minister to take the necessary steps to regularise the ministry’s actions.