A former Minister of Roads and Highways, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has challenged the soon-to-be-rolled-out digital toll system by President John Dramani Mahama, arguing that the foundation was laid by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

In his bid to reintroduce road tolls, the president unveiled an initiative to collect tolls through a mechanised system.

Speaking at the 9th Ghana CEO Summit and Awards Expo on May 26, 2025, President Mahama announced that his administration would reintroduce road tolls through a modernised, cashless system that eliminates the need for physical toll booths.

However, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, May 27, 2025 the former minister argued that the newly proposed system, expected to leverage digital tools including Ghana Card-linked vehicle ownership data for automatic billing and mobile money payments, is not a novel idea.

“To set the record straight: in 2021, the NPP administration made the bold decision to suspend manual toll collection,” Asenso-Boakye wrote.

“That decision was based on four critical issues: low revenue yield, severe congestion, high vehicle operating costs, and revenue leakages.”

He indicated that the NPP government had already begun developing a tech-driven alternative, leveraging existing digital infrastructure such as the Ghana Card and the Digital Address System to resolve the challenges associated with physical toll booths.

Asenso-Boakye expressed disappointment that the Mahama administration had, in his view, abandoned the process rather than building on it.

“While every administration has the right to adopt its preferred procurement strategy, it is misleading to portray the digital toll initiative as a fresh idea,” he stated.

“The digitisation of toll collection was conceived, structured, and launched under the NPP government.”

He called on the Mahama administration to prioritise policy continuity and resist what he termed “political repackaging” of previous initiatives.

“Ghanaians deserve leadership that builds on progress, not one that repurposes the work of others as their own,” he added.

VPO/MA