Group demands vote of censure, surcharge against Roads Minister over road toll cancellation

Anti-graft pressure group, Crusaders Against Corruption Ghana, has petitioned the Speaker of Parliament over the Roads and Highways Minister’s directive leading to the cessation in the collection of road tolls.

The group, in its petition sighted by Citi News, is making two demands, having described the Minister’s order as unconditional and illegal.

It, therefore, wants the sector minister, Kwasi Amoako-Atta to be surcharged and a vote of censure passed on the Minister.

“Mr. Speaker, in line with the aforementioned, Crusaders Against Corruption Ghana (CACG) is officially petitioning parliament through your office to as a matter of urgency, public interest and protection of the public purse pass a vote of censure on Ghana’s Roads Minister and direct the Attorney General of Ghana to invoke Article 187, Clause 7 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana in line with surcharging Ghana’s Road’s Minister.”

According to the Crusaders, the Minister has caused financial loss to the state and must be allowed to face the consequences.

“Ghana’s Finance Minister, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, indicated that the country would lose GHS 78 million should the road toll be abolished. This figure translates to the country losing GHS 209,677 each day as a result of the road tolls not being collected. This means that, from November 18, 2021, to March 9, 2022, being the day of submitting this petition, Ghana has lost a total of GHS 23, 483,824 through the unconstitutional and illegal act of Mr. Amoako-Atta”, excerpts of the petition read.
Background

The Ministry of Roads and Highways directed the discontinuation of the collection of tolls on all public roads and bridges across the country from Thursday, November 18, 2021.

The directive followed the announcement by the Finance Ministry of the scrapping of tolls on all public roads.

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, subsequently directed the Roads Minister to reverse that directive, insisting it was illegal and must be immediately withdrawn.

He argued that although the cessation of tolls on public roads was announced in the 2022 budget, it remains a proposal until Parliament approves it.

However, the directive was not heeded by the minister.