Accountant General's Department Vs. Minority: GH¢11 Billion Expressway Spending Scandal Rocks Ghana!

A significant financial dispute has emerged regarding the Accra-Kumasi Expressway project, centered on a reported GH¢10.92 billion expenditure. The Minority in Parliament has demanded a detailed explanation, while the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) has clarified that the amount represents an accounting transfer and not actual spending on construction.

The controversy began when Akim Swedru MP, Kennedy Osei Nyarko, on behalf of the Minority, raised concerns in a statement issued on Thursday, July 16. These concerns followed figures contained in the 2025 Audited Annual Whole of Government Accounts published by the Auditor-General, which indicated that GH¢10,916,912,468.56 had been spent under government’s Priority Programmes on the expressway. The Minority highlighted the discrepancy between this substantial reported expenditure and the limited physical progress, noting that as of June 25, 2026, only 89.5 kilometres, representing 50.9% of the proposed right-of-way for the Accra-Kumasi Expressway Corridor, had been cleared by the Ghana Armed Forces. They called upon relevant government agencies, including the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the Ministry of Finance, to publish a comprehensive expenditure report, asserting that infrastructure projects are funded with taxpayers’ money and citizens have a right to know how public resources are utilized to ensure transparency and accountability.

In response to these claims, the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) issued a statement on Thursday, July 16, 2026, dismissing the assertions as a misunderstanding of Government accounting procedures. The CAGD explained that while funds earmarked for the flagship expressway project were indeed transferred from the Consolidated Fund, this transfer does not mean the money has been spent on construction. The government established Accra-Kumasi Expressway Limited as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) through the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) to implement the project, classifying it as a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) for funding and accounting purposes.

The Department clarified that following Parliament’s approval of the concession, proceeds from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) and mineral royalties were earmarked in the 2025 Budget to finance the project. These approved funds were subsequently transferred into a dedicated Bank of Ghana account. Crucially, the CAGD stressed that the money remains intact in this account and has not been disbursed to any contractor or utilized for physical construction works. It further clarified that the ongoing right-of-way clearing activities being undertaken by the Ghana Armed Forces are a separate preparatory exercise and are not being financed from the GH¢11 billion allocation, despite being mentioned by the Minority as an indicator of limited progress.

Explaining the accounting treatment, the CAGD detailed Ghana’s public financial management framework, which encompasses Central Government, Local Government, and Government Business Entities. Under this framework, any transfer from the Consolidated Fund to a Government entity operating outside the Central Government accounting group is recorded as “Grant Expenditure” in the books of the Central Government and concurrently as “Grant Revenue” in the books of the receiving entity. The Department cited transfers to entities such as the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), GETFund, and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) as comparable examples of this standard accounting practice. Therefore, the CAGD concluded that it is incorrect to interpret the recording of the transfer as expenditure in Central Government’s accounts to mean that the funds have already been spent on constructing the Accra-Kumasi Expressway.

The CAGD reaffirmed its commitment to fiscal transparency and accountability, assuring the public that the accounting treatment applied to the Accra-Kumasi Expressway project is fully consistent with Ghana’s Public Financial Management framework and established Government accounting standards. The Accra-Kumasi Expressway remains a critical flagship infrastructure project, aimed at significantly improving road connectivity between the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions and addressing long-standing challenges along one of the country's busiest transport corridors.