Akufo-Addo In Fresh Trouble As Road Contractors Strike To Chase Him And Road Minister To Pay Their GH₵5.9BN Debt Owed Them
According to the information available to Soireenews.com, the intended meeting would be attending by all the regional chairmen and Functional Executive Committee (FEC) members of ASROC.
Freeman Koryekpor 
Thousands of road contractors under the umbrella body of the Association of Road Contractors Ghana (ASROC) have set aside Wednesday May 24, 2023 to hold an open forum to discuss modalities on how to ensure the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo pays their whopping GH₵5.9 billion debt to save their companies from collapse.
According to the information available to Soireenews.com, the intended meeting would be attending by all the regional chairmen and Functional Executive Committee (FEC) members of ASROC.
The Soireenews.com is reliably informed that the meeting would generally serves as a viable platform for the members to contribute as to how the Association can deal with the issue of payment which has resulted in the inability of the Road Fund to make any payments to the Association for well over a year.
The meeting would also afford opportunity of the the Chairman of ASROC, Mr. John Afful Jnr to brief members on the activities of the Road Fund and other pertinent issues confronting the Association and seek proposals from members on the way forward.
This news outlet gathered that the National Executive Council will hold a preliminary meeting at 10am on the same day before the forum.
Meanwhile, Soireenews.com understands that the government since 2018 has not settled the GH¢5.9 billion owed to contractors to prevent their companies from collapsing.
In December last year, sector minister Mr. Kwasi Amoako Atta assured Ghanaian road contractors that government will pay them a chunk of its debt before the end of the year while gradually settling the rest.
But the National Chairman of the Association of Road Contractors Ghana, Mr. Afful Jnr. revealed to the journalists that the government only paid an insignificant amount of the total debt.
He has, therefore, called on the government to speedily pay significant amounts owed to contractors to help save their companies and also pay their creditors.
“If you announce to the whole world that you are paying contractors by the end of the year and our suppliers, our creditors, and our banks are chasing us to bring the money into an account what do we do? The Ghana road fund owes contractors GH¢5.9 billion as of the end of October 2022,” Mr Afful said.
It would be recalled that the road contractors have disclosed that government hasn't made payments to them since 2018, a situation that is adversely affecting their work amid the economic downturn.
According to its Vice Chairman, Mr Stephen Atatsi, the non-payment and lack of assurance to settle same was in part frustrating but more critically impacting their livelihoods.
“Since 2018, government hasn't paid a penny to us and owes us millions of dollars. The amount is as a result of delayed payment and accumulation of interest on certificates locked up at the sector ministry.
He stated further that due to the debt burden on members who had taken huge loans and the attendant interest they are faced with, most of them have been traumatized.
Others he noted had been hospitalized due to depression and frustration because of pressure from banks and other creditors.
“Some of the members are now living from hand to mouth because government has refused to pay huge amount of debt owed them. Some even cannot afford to buy their medical bills, so we are really going through a lot of economic crisis, and that this is not fair,” he stressed
He appealed to government to settle the four-year debt to help alleviate the suffering and hardships that members were going through especially with the current economic slump.
E-Levy as a route to settle debts
The Electronic Transaction Levy as contained in the 2022 budget was mentioned as a key revenue generation measure to help government settle debts owed contractors.
In February 2022, whiles addressing the leadership of the Road Contactors Association, Minister of Roads, Kwasi Amoako-Atta said a number of deplorable roads will be fixed when the E-Levy is implemented.
“When the E-levy is implemented, the road sector will get its fair share. All contractors owed by the government will be paid.
"A number of deplorable roads will be fixed when the E-Levy is introduced because all contractors we owe will be paid. You are going to benefit directly from its implementation. No serious government will joke with its contractors,” he said at the time.
