Energy analyst and New Patriotic Party (NPP) member Kwadwo Poku Nsafoah has criticised President Mahama’s timeline for the Accra-Kumasi expressway, describing the two-year completion target as not viable.
The expressway is a planned 198.7km, six-lane highway linking Accra and Kumasi, expected to significantly reduce travel time between the two cities.
The President, in a speech yesterday after receiving a report on the clearing of the roadway by the Armed Forces, said construction would be completed within two years.
But Poku, a former NPP flagbearer aspirant, questioned the credibility of the President’s claim, saying the timeline is not viable for a project of that magnitude.
He said he has no objection to President Mahama having a bold vision, but maintained that the project is too large in scope to be completed in two years.
“We are not against President Mahama having a bold vision. When he tells me and all the educated people in this country that he is going to build 55 bridges, 8 overpasses, and a 200km, six-lane expressway with interchanges in two years we are saying, my brother, that is pigs flying. You have only graded 176km of the road, and that took you over a year. You have not done your geotechnical surveys. How are you going to build that road before you leave office? Any major construction of that magnitude takes seven to eight years, minimum,” he said.
He also questioned the NDC’s claims to major road infrastructure projects, arguing that the party has no comparable record, and insisted the NPP has led road development in the country, citing the existing Accra-Kumasi road as evidence.
Poku said the NDC cannot claim credit for the existing road, noting that its drawings date back to the administration of former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
“On the Accra-Kumasi conversation, everybody in this country knows that the only political party that has done a lot for the Accra-Kumasi highway the existing road is the NPP. The NDC has no record on the existing road. During President Kufuor’s time, there were drawings for an eight-lane Accra-Kumasi road, valued at $850 million at the time, in 2006. Those drawings still exist,” he added.