The Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has issued a firm two-month ultimatum to Maripoma Enterprise Limited over slow progress on the Wenchi–Sawla Lot 7 road project, warning that the contract will be terminated if the contractor fails to deliver at least 20% completion within the period.
The warning followed an inspection tour of the project site, where the minister expressed deep frustration over the pace of work and what he described as inadequate mobilisation despite financial commitments already made to the contractor.
“It’s either you do the 20%, or we terminate. You are not the first person we are telling,” Mr Agbodza said during the visit.
He further raised concerns about what he termed persistent negligence of project sites by the contractor, citing similar issues on another project in the Western North Region.
“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 stated.
Agbodza questioned the company’s capacity to handle major infrastructure works, stressing that its performance on the ground did not reflect its reputation 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.”
The minister also expressed concern over the slow progress on the more than 100-kilometre stretch, warning that government patience was wearing thin.
“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 warned.
He noted that the delays were unacceptable, especially given the expectations of communities along the corridor and government’s reliance on local contractors under its flagship road development agenda.
“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.
Agbodza also criticised the reputational damage caused by the delays, saying it was unfair to the government and the presidency.
“Why should the President suffer abuse on this corridor because he’s giving you work, and you are not doing the work?” he asked. “Do you see what they are saying on social media? TikTok? What wrong have we done?”
He reaffirmed government’s readiness to terminate the contract if Maripoma Enterprise fails to meet the set target within the stipulated timeframe.
