Ghana’s Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) has rejected claims that the government has spent nearly GH¢11 billion on the proposed Accra-Kumasi Expressway, saying the funds remain in a dedicated Bank of Ghana account awaiting implementation of the project.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the department said reports suggesting the money had already been spent were based on a misunderstanding of government accounting procedures.
“The CAGD wishes to emphasise that these funds have not been paid to any contractor or spent on construction works. They remain in the dedicated Bank of Ghana account pending project execution,” the statement said.
The clarification follows social media discussions claiming that the government had exhausted funds allocated to the highway project even though major construction has yet to begin.
The department said the funds were transferred from the Consolidated Fund into an account managed by Accra-Kumasi Expressway Limited, a special purpose vehicle established by the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) to oversee implementation of the project.
According to the CAGD, the transfer was recorded as expenditure in the Central Government’s accounts in line with standard public sector accounting procedures, but this did not mean the money had been spent on construction.
“Every transfer of money from the Central Government to another government entity outside the Central Government accounting group is recorded as Grant Expenditure in the books of the Central Government and as Grant Revenue in the books of the receiving entity,” the department said.
It noted that the same accounting treatment applies to transfers made to statutory bodies such as the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
“It is therefore incorrect to conclude that because the transfer appears as expenditure in the accounts of Central Government, the funds have already been spent on the construction of the Accra-Kumasi Expressway,” the statement added.
The department said Accra-Kumasi Expressway Limited has been classified as a state-owned enterprise for funding and accounting purposes.
The government allocated proceeds from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) and mineral royalties in the 2025 budget to finance the project after Parliament approved the concession arrangements.
The CAGD also clarified that right-of-way clearing works currently being undertaken by the Ghana Armed Forces are separate from the main project and are not being financed from the GH¢11 billion allocation.
The department said the accounting treatment applied to the project complies with Ghana’s Public Financial Management framework and established government accounting standards.
The Accra-Kumasi Expressway is one of the government’s flagship infrastructure projects and is intended to improve transport links between the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions along one of Ghana’s busiest road corridors.
