{"id":105186,"date":"2025-12-03T08:15:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T08:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=105186"},"modified":"2025-12-03T08:15:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T08:15:20","slug":"state-must-tackle-weak-revenue-capacity-and-deep-rooted-corruption-in-road-sector-dr-asah-asante","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=105186","title":{"rendered":"State must tackle weak revenue capacity and deep-rooted corruption in road sector \u2013 Dr Asah Asante"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>1 Minute, 48 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
\n

Political scientist and senior lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr Asah Asante, has blamed Ghana\u2019s persistent road financing challenges on weak state capacity and entrenched corruption, describing the government\u2019s indebtedness to contractors as a symptom of deeper structural failures.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the AM Show, he said the state\u2019s inability to raise adequate revenue for national development continues to undermine road construction and maintenance across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember, in governance, there\u2019s something we call state capacity \u2014 the ability of the state to raise revenue to run its own affairs. We are not able,\u201d he argued. \u201cThat is why we award contracts when we don\u2019t know where the money will come from. It\u2019s very shameful because we gained independence long ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Asante criticised Ghana\u2019s reliance on external funding for road projects, saying it reflects poor planning and weak financial management. He warned that such dependence exposes the country to delays, inflated costs, and abandoned projects.<\/p>\n

The political scientist also linked the poor state of Ghana\u2019s roads to corruption, alleging that some political actors take \u201ccertain percentages\u201d of funds meant for contractors, ultimately compromising the quality of work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you take money from a contractor, you weaken the quality of the work the person is going to do. You cannot inspect anything. You have compromised yourself,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

To illustrate the decline in infrastructure quality, Dr Asante referenced the durability of the Tema Motorway built in the 1950s under Dr Kwame Nkrumah compared to modern roads that deteriorate within a short period.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fixing roads all the time,\u201d he observed. \u201cLook at Nkrumah \u2014 he constructed the Tema Motorway, and it was solid. But look at the roads constructed in our time; they get destroyed, and we rebuild them all the time. Corruption is in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Government currently owes road contractors over GH\u20b540 million, sparking public debate about fiscal discipline and the sustainability of major projects under initiatives like the Big Push.<\/p>\n

Dr Asante stressed that unless the government tackles both its revenue mobilisation challenges and corruption in the sector, Ghana will continue to struggle with poor road infrastructure and mounting debts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\"StatePolitical scientist and senior lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr Asah Asante, has blamed Ghana\u2019s persistent road financing challenges on weak state capacity and entrenched corruption, describing the government\u2019s indebtedness to contractors as a symptom of deeper structural failures.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[703,1883,10,9,13298],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asah-asante","category-national","category-politics","category-popular","category-road-sector"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=105186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105186\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=105186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=105186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=105186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}