The Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has issued a two-month ultimatum to Maripoma Enterprise Limited to deliver at least 20% progress on the Wenchi–Sawla Lot 7 road project or face contract termination.
The warning came after the minister inspected the project and expressed strong dissatisfaction with the contractor’s performance, accusing the company of failing to mobilise adequately despite receiving payment commitments.
“It’s either you do the 20%, or we terminate. You are not the first person we are telling,” Mr Agbodza said during the inspection.
He cited what he described as repeated neglect of project sites, including another project in Western North, where he said the contractor failed to show up despite mobilisation.
“We went to the Western North. You didn’t even turn up on the site. You did not even turn up on the site when you took mobilisation on that one as well. In fact, you didn’t even have a site camp,” he said.
The minister also questioned the contractor’s capacity to execute large-scale works despite its profile in the industry.
“You are a big company, but your bigness is not showing in the actual delivery of your projects,” he said. “We need to say this in the afternoon for everybody to hear. You must change the way you operate your things. At the moment, it’s not helpful to you and to the country.”
Governs Agbodza further criticised the slow pace of work on the over 100-kilometre stretch, warning that government patience was running out.
“You are sitting on the job. Well, we have said what we have to say. You have two months to do 20 percent, or we are not even coming to talk to you. We’ll terminate, and you can go to court,” he said.
He said the delays were unacceptable given public expectations and the government’s flagship road agenda, which relies heavily on Ghanaian contractors.
“Go and see the condition in which the people are in that section of the road. Why? It’s not right,” he said.
“We should be celebrating policy like the Big Push. It was built around the Ghanaian contractor, and it was deliberate,” he added.
Governs Agbodza also questioned the reputational impact of the delays, saying poor performance was exposing the government to public criticism.
“Why should the President suffer abuse on this corridor because he’s giving you work, and you are not doing the work?” he said. “Do you see what they are saying on social media? TikTok? What wrong have we done?”
He said the government would not hesitate to terminate the contract if the contractor failed to meet the new deadline.
