The minority in parliament has praised the government for continuing the Kumasi Inner Ring Road Improvement Project, but says the initiative was conceived and negotiated under the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration.
In a statement signed by the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Roads and Transport Committee, Kennedy Nyarko Osei, the opposition said it welcomed the government’s decision to proceed with the project, describing it as “a hallmark of responsible governance.”
However, the statement stressed that the groundwork for the project — recently announced under a grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) — was laid before the change of government.
According to the minority, a JICA mission met with Ghana’s Ministry of Finance in February 2024 for technical discussions, followed by the signing of Minutes of Discussions in September 2024, which “effectively sealed the deal.”
The formal signing, it said, had been scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) in September 2025.
“The grant arrangements and protocols were all completed by the NPP administration,” the statement noted, adding that the project aims to expand capacity, reduce congestion, and improve safety on sections of the Kumasi Inner Ring Road.
The minority urged the government to continue other key infrastructure projects started by the former administration, including the Suame Interchange, Sunyani Road Phase 2, and the Konongo Bypass.
“For the people of Kumasi and the Ashanti Region, what matters most is not which government started a project, but continuity and delivery,” the statement added.
The Kumasi Inner Ring Road Improvement Project forms part of a broader strategy to fully dualize the city’s inner ring, with Japan funding the southern bypass and the western bypass integrated into the Sunyani Road expansion.
