The Engineers Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces completed the clearance of 175.6 kilometres of the Accra-Kumasi Expressway route from Ablekuma in the Greater Accra Region to Sewua in the Ashanti Region in 19 weeks, one week ahead of the 20-week deadline set by the Government. The exercise was undertaken by the Ghana Armed Forces, with experts estimating the cost at tens of millions of dollars. However, the source of funding for the exercise remains a mystery.
A thorough search of the 2025 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, the 2025 MDA Budget Estimates, and official explanations concerning the Accra-Kumasi Expressway by The Daily Searchlight could not identify the exact funding line used to carry out the project. The 2025 Budget gives the Ministry of Defence a total allocation of GH¢6.3309 billion, but the identified allocations are for defence-related programmes rather than the expressway-clearing exercise.
The 2025 Budget's infrastructure allocation places the Ministry of Roads and Highways at approximately GH¢3.245 billion for 2025, including GH¢2.275 billion in CAPEX. The Budget discusses works on the existing Accra-Kumasi Highway, including the four bypasses at Osino, Anina, Enyiresi and Konongo. However, the new Accra-Kumasi Expressway on a new alignment is not presented in the 2025 Budget as a specific Ministry of Defence/GAF clearing project.
The Ghana Armed Forces' clearing of the expressway's right-of-way in 2026 was undertaken as a pre-construction activity supporting feasibility and engineering studies. The Ministry of Roads and Highways requested, through the Ministry of Defence, the employment of military engineers to undertake pre-construction activities on the Accra-Kumasi Expressway. This indicates a subsequent request/arrangement involving Roads and Highways and Defence, rather than a clearly identifiable appropriation in the original 2025 Defence budget for expressway clearing.
In July 2026, the Controller and Accountant-General's Department (CAGD) addressed the financing of the Accra-Kumasi Expressway, stating that Government had earmarked ABFA proceeds and mineral royalties in the 2025 Budget for the expressway and transferred the money into a dedicated Bank of Ghana account through Accra-Kumasi Expressway Limited, the project SPV. However, CAGD expressly stated that the Ghana Armed Forces' ongoing right-of-way clearing was a separate preparatory activity and was not financed from those expressway funds.
The enacted Appropriation Act, 2025 (Act 1126) appropriated GH¢6,330,917,035 to the Ministry of Defence, broken down principally as Compensation - GH¢5,691,168,726, Goods and Services - GH¢379,748,309, and Capital expenditure - GH¢260,000,000. The Ghana Armed Forces received GH¢5,807,755,102 from GoG resources, but there is no specific allocation for the Accra-Kumasi Expressway clearing project.
The Defence PBB gives the 2025 capital ceiling of GH¢260 million and identifies the capital projects, including Reconstruction of two Ministry of Defence bungalows - GH¢10.6 million and Construction of Forward Operating Base at Ezinlibo, Jomoro District - GH¢100 million. The difference between the annual capital ceiling and the project allocations is earmarked for non-infrastructure CAPEX such as vehicles, computers, furniture, etc. There is no Accra-Kumasi Expressway clearing project in this capital programme.
Key points
- The source of funding for the Accra-Kumasi Expressway clearing exercise remains unclear.
- The 2025 Budget does not contain a specific allocation for the Accra-Kumasi Expressway clearing project.
- The Ghana Armed Forces' clearing of the expressway's right-of-way was undertaken as a pre-construction activity supporting feasibility and engineering studies.
