President John Dramani Mahama has renewed calls for the construction of a modern Accra–Kumasi Expressway, describing it as unacceptable that Ghana’s two largest cities are still connected largely by a single-lane highway.
His comments follow widespread public frustration after motorists and passengers were stranded in traffic for between 12 and 24 hours on sections of the Accra–Kumasi road during the New Year period, specifically between December 31, 2025, and January 1, 2026.
The severe gridlock, which affected areas including Juaso, Asankari and Dwaso, was linked to large-scale church conventions that attracted thousands of worshippers from across the country. Although the Ministry of Roads and Highways has explained that the congestion was a one-off incident, President Mahama insists it exposed deeper structural deficiencies in the country’s road infrastructure.
Speaking at the annual New Year School conference in Accra on Tuesday, January 6, the President said the incident reinforced the urgent need for a modern expressway linking Accra and Kumasi under his government’s flagship “Big Push” infrastructure agenda.
According to him, critics of the proposed expressway would better appreciate its necessity if they had personally experienced the scale of the traffic congestion recorded during the festive season.
Mahama revealed that a single church convention was enough to bring traffic on the Accra–Kumasi highway to a complete standstill for more than seven hours, highlighting the limitations of the existing road network connecting Ghana’s major economic centres.
“Accra is the biggest city in Ghana and the capital. Kumasi is the next biggest city in Ghana, and the traffic between these two cities is a shame that we have a single-lane road linking our two major cities,” the President said.
He warned that such conditions hinder free movement, commerce and national development, stressing that the country can no longer rely on an overstretched highway to support growing population pressures and economic activity.
President Mahama assured Ghanaians that the situation would soon be addressed, disclosing that preparations are underway to cut sod for the Accra–Kumasi Expressway early this year.
“One of the iconic projects under our Big Push is going to be the Accra–Kumasi Expressway,” he stated, adding that once completed, congestion of the kind witnessed during the New Year festivities would become a thing of the past.
