Where Is Our Money?—Road Contractors Angrily Ask Roads Minister
According to the frustrated road contractors, their checks from their various banks have revealed that no money has been credited to their accounts by the central government through the Ministry of Finance Roads Fund for the past three days that they had entered into the 2023 new year although Mr Amoako-Atta has promised to pay them before the end of the year.
Freeman Koryekpor 
Thousands of road contractors in Ghana are boiling with anger at the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr. Kwasi Amoako-Atta for woefully deceiving them to pay a load of outstanding debts owed road contractors before the year of 2022.
According to the frustrated road contractors, their checks from their various banks have revealed that no money has been credited to their accounts by the central government through the Ministry of Finance Roads Fund for the past three days that they had entered into the 2023 new year, although Mr Amoako-Atta has promised to pay them before the end of the year.
They also mentioned that their further checks have indicated that the government has not even started any process in the payment of the huge outstanding debts owed road contractors, which development attests to the fact that the Road and Highways Minister has lied to road contractors in the country.
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Atta says government will clear a “chunk” of outstanding debts owed road contractors before the year ends.
Mr Amoako-Atta said this when he addressed a gathering at the 2022 Nine Lessons and Carols of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) which was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Roads and Highways.
“Contractors of this country are doing a yeoman’s job despite all the difficulties, and I want to assure them that government will continue to work in their interest and all their outstanding payments from now onwards will be done from time to time.
“A chunk of outstanding (payments) are going to be effected before the end of the year and it will continue,” he added.
Speaking in an interview with Soireenews.com on Tuesday January 3, 2023, the contractors who spoke on the condition of anonymity stated that they haven't received any payment from the government and warned the roads and highways to stop using the media platforms to lie and throw dust onto their eyes.
Through frustrations, they lamented that they received sad news that one of the famous road contractors in the Ashanti Region was confirmed dead three days ago.
According to them, they were warning roads and highways sector minister because they realized that this promise is just a face serving exercise to create impression that the Akufo-Addo led NPP government really cares for the road contractors in the country.
"But the NPP government really knows for sure that it didn't have any good plan to pay the road contractors of their outstanding debts before the end of the year 2022 as being claimed by Road and Highways Minister.
They disclosed that the government of Ghana under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has not paid the road contractors for their works done since in the year 2017.
According to them, the government has owed the road contractors in the country to the tune of GH¢ 12 billion cedis, which situation has landed many of road contractors in avoidance deaths.
The thousands of road contractors had also made reference to Tuesday December 20, 2022 edition of the Daily Graphic front page screaming headline" More to complete stalled projects: GETFUND Pays Contractors GH¢667M... Amount covers debts as of November 2022-Administrator."
The members of Ghana Road Contractors Association of Ghana have came out publicly to defuse the mind of the general public that the central government has paid billion debt owed road contractors in the country.
According to the aggrieved road contractors, they couldn't fathom why the government of Ghana has decided to throw lies to the public domain that they had paid the contractors, the development which has made their wives, banks and relatives to be putting intense pressure on them which has landed them into trouble.
They pointed that out when the story broke, it has misled their families members including those who they are indebted to in the financial institutions and wives who were hard on them for the payment of their monies.
They stated that they were unhappy about the government of Ghana for making misleading publication through the Ghana Education Trust Fund(GetFund) GETFUND.
They argued that "This is outrageous and unacceptable and called on the general public to disregard the publication in the Daily Graphic.
They pointed out that the contractors have different areas, for which the GETFUND is mandatory fund which was established in the year 2000 under the former President Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings National National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration with Dr. Spio Ekow-Garbrah as the then Minister of Education, to provide finance to supplement the provision of the education at all levels by the central government while also supporting other areas of Ghanania educational set-up
They stated that the major payment problems in this country is the road construction sector, adding that these payments on the projects were done by the government through the GETFUND which covers the construction of toilet facilities and education infrastructure institutions.
They explained that this money was paid to the contractors are just retention.
"But look at the proportion that the government has blew the whole story as if the government has paid all the debts owed the contractors. So we are that this payment in the media currently is not to the road sector and that a penny was not paid to the road fund to the contractors. Big No! We have never received any payment from the government. The government has not paid since 2017.
"The Government is owing us of over billions of cedis to pay to the road contractors. We the road constructors have not be touched at all when it comes to the payment of our monies government owed us," he explained.
They disclosed that total amount of money owed the contractors is GH¢ 2.9 Billion saying that this amount dates back to 2017.
The road contractors stressed that No payments since 2018, government owes us millions of dollars
They indicated that the inability of government to settle these arrears on the part of government is bad faith.
“ Before the elections government debt to us accrued to contractors was GH¢ 12B. We are expecting it to go up. Sometime ago it was announced that they paid to the contractors massively. In one category zero to GH¢ 500.00 was paid, GH¢ 500.00 to GH¢ 1M or above was paid but since then it was not full payment to contractors. Only 40 percent owed the contractors was paid”.
They said “ For sometime now mobilization has not been made and so the contractors’ pre -financed and go to whatever financial house you go and they give you 60%. This is difficult for contractors so they are unable to finish the road if the money delays”.
They therefore appealed to the government to pay the arrears.” Right now when you go to any financial house and you mention construction they don’t want to hear your name because you wont pay. Those days the banks chase after us to come for loans now they don't come.”
"We are urging the government to ensure the payment of arrears owed us the road contractors," they stressed.
They expressed worry over the Ministry of Roads’ high indebtedness of GH¢ 5.9 billion to contractors at the Ghana Road Fund Secretariat.
