A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) communications team, Dr. Ezekiel Agyekum Obeng, has dismissed claims linking President John Dramani Mahama to the Tema Motorway expansion project, insisting the project predates the current administration.
Speaking in an interview with Joshua Kodjo Mensah on GH Today on GHOne TV on Thursday, April 16, 2026, Dr. Obeng stated that the current government cannot take credit for the road project.
“President Mahama has no hands in the Tema Motorway expansion project,” he said, arguing that segments of the road had already seen development under previous administrations, referencing earlier commissioning activities.
“At a point, Dr. Bawumia went to commission parts of the Pokuase-Nsawam Road,” he noted, adding that the project timeline does not align with the current administration’s tenure. “We all know when it started”.
Dr. Obeng further maintained that ongoing works on the corridor should not be newly attributed to the current government. “We all know which parts were completed before this administration,” he said.
He urged the government, if rolling out new infrastructure initiatives, to focus on clearly new projects. “So if you are launching your big push, please go and look for roads to construct,” he added.
According to him, claims that contractors on the project were not paid, were false. He disputed the narrative, suggesting payments had already been made prior to the change in government.
Dr. Obeng further argued that several major road projects previously attributed to external partners were mischaracterized in public discourse.
“In fact, all the major roads we are constructing, the NDC told Ghanaians that they were ECOWAS roads… AU roads… European Union roads… in fact, they were UN roads,” he claimed.
He added that there is often a pattern of rebranding projects initiated by previous administrations.
“Today, the roads that NPP started… you’ve come, you won’t give birth to the child. Someone gives birth to the child, and you say… I’m coming to name the child,” he said.
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Dr. Obeng expressed confidence that public understanding would ultimately reflect project origins.
“At the end of the day, the Ghanaians would know who and who started what, and who should claim glory on what,” he stated, adding that “the NPP had built interchanges. Talk of the Pokuase interchange… Tamale interchange… Takoradi,” he said, adding, “We could list about five interchanges at the time.”
Dr. Obeng also reiterated the NPP’s contribution to infrastructure in northern Ghana. “We are proud to say that the NPP is the political party that first introduced interchanges in the northern part of Ghana,” he concluded.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/Abigail Praise Pabai
