Minority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin has taken aim at the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government for what he describes as an unjustifiable delay in setting up the Road Fund Board, an action he says has resulted in unpaid contractors and worsening financial distress within the private sector.
Speaking during the 2026 Budget debate in Parliament on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, Afenyo-Markin said the government’s inaction was directly affecting contractors who had taken loans to complete state projects but had not been paid.
He argued that the delay reflects broader administrative lapses, stating: “This is part of your inefficiencies you’ve introduced as part of your so-called resets. I will not use the word incompetence, but anybody reading this would wonder why a government with opportunity to put in place their governance structures have refused to set up the road fund board.”
Afenyo-Markin questioned why the system had stalled despite the government previously amending the governing legislation to facilitate its work. According to him, the consequences have been severe for businesses and workers.
He noted: “The Ghanaian businesses who have gone to the banks to take loans are not being paid. They have worked, their workers are at home and are unable to pay their workers, and if you ask them, the simple reason is that the government, for over 10 months, has refused, neglected, and, for whatever internal politicking, is unable to set up a simple board.”
The Minority Leader also challenged the governing party’s claim of having a capable team, questioning why qualified individuals had not been assigned to the board.
“I thought you had the men. I thought you had the men,” he said. “Some MPs who have no portfolio, are not on any board, why are you not putting them there? A lot of the qualified people in your government, you can’t set up a road fund board.”
Afenyo-Markin urged the government to provide clarity on why the board remains unconstituted, especially when it has cited the absence of the board as the reason behind delayed contractor payments.
He concluded by demanding transparency on how funds released into the Road Fund were being utilised in the interim, asking: “Have you failed the people of Ghana already or you are about failing them? You should explain to us why the road fund board has not been set up… So all the money that have been released to that fund, what are you doing?”
