Ghana to bar contractors with unfinished projects from winning new road contracts

Ghana's government says contractors who fail to complete existing road projects will no longer be eligible for new contracts under its flagship infrastructure programme, in a move aimed at tackling chronic delays in public works.

Roads and Highways Minister Governs Kwame Agbodza said companies would have to demonstrate that they had completed and handed over major projects already under their portfolios before being considered for additional work under the next phase of the government's Big Push initiative.

Speaking during an inspection of road projects in the Eastern, Volta and Oti regions on Wednesday, Mr Agbodza said the new policy was intended to end the practice of contractors taking on multiple government contracts without completing those already awarded to them.

"As we said, the next phase of Big Push you can't be sitting on jobs and be asking for new ones," he told reporters.

He said the government was finalising measures that would make the completion and handover of existing projects a key requirement in future procurement decisions.

"In fact, we are even considering that before any contractor gets any major project, he must show that he has completed and handed over other projects within the portfolio," the minister said.

Road project delays have long been a source of public concern in Ghana, with many contracts running behind schedule because of funding constraints, contractual disputes and contractors managing several projects simultaneously.

Mr Agbodza criticised what he described as contractors "binging" on government projects while making little progress on individual sites.

"No more contractors binging on the job and then taking it just touching here and there," he said.

"From now, all major contractors, once you are working, you must complete a major project within your portfolio and hand it over before you get another one."

The government says the policy will improve accountability, speed up the completion of road projects and ensure better value for public money under the Big Push programme, which is expected to accelerate infrastructure development across the country.

The announcement comes as the government seeks to address a backlog of stalled and delayed road projects while expanding investment in transport infrastructure to support economic growth.