Eric Akwetey Addo, a concerned citizen, says the financing model being touted as a novel domestic funding initiative for the proposed Accra-Kumasi Expressway is not new.

He said the model was introduced and applied during the second term of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo through the Accra-Tema Motorway Expressway Limited (ATEL).

Eric Addo said the public discussion surrounding the proposed Expressway was creating the impression that the current administration had introduced a new financing model for Ghana's expressway programme - one based on domestic funding rather than external borrowing, an impression he said required clarification.

He said the framework now being presented closely mirrored one introduced and applied during the second term of former President Akufo-Addo by the then Minister for Finance.

Under that earlier arrangement, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) was established under the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) to execute the Accra-Tema Motorway project, he said.

He said his article was not an argument against the Accra-Kumasi Expressway, but a call for an accurate public record and transparency on whether the current proposal was a continuation, duplication or repackaging of a framework that already existed.

"The public is entitled to know what has become of the original structure, why Accra-Tema Motorway Expressway Limited (ATEL) has not been used or properly acknowledged, and why the current administration is presenting the same basic financing concept as a new initiative," he stated.

Eric Addo said during the second term of former President Akufo-Addo, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) worked with the Ministry of Roads and Highways (MoRH) to establish the framework for financing highway infrastructure.

He said it took considerable effort for the MoF to bring the MoRH to the table.

He said under the framework, ATEL was established as an SPV under GIIF, a board was constituted, and a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Louis Harrison, was appointed, adding that the relevant corporate records were available at the Registrar of Companies.

Addo said the MoRH awarded the Motorway contract under the framework, while the MoF also established a dedicated account at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), funded mainly through the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA), which is derived from Ghana's petroleum revenue.

He said no external borrowing was used to finance the project, not even domestic borrowing.

He said ATEL was expected to execute the first phase of the Motorway project and subsequently offload it to domestic pension funds and then raise a new set of domestic funds to execute further expressway projects across the country.

He said the purpose of the model was to minimise political interference in expressway construction and encourage domestic pension funds to regard such infrastructure projects as credible, long-term investments.

Addo said the Motorway was expected to be tolled, with Parliament preparing to pass a new law once the road was completed, noting that those discussions were already taking place publicly.

He said ATEL still had a sitting CEO, Louis Harrison, and the Motorway project was being executed under the framework established under the NPP.

However, following the change in government and the assumption of office by a new Minister for Finance under the NDC, progress on the Motorway project began to slow, he said.

Against this background, the Accra-Kumasi Expressway is now being presented under a similar structure, with a new CEO appointed and the military asked to clear the right of way, but no board for the project had been publicly identified, he said.

He said ATEL could have executed the Accra-Kumasi Expressway, particularly after gaining experience from the Motorway project, and therefore the decision to establish another structure raised questions about institutional continuity, public accountability and the proper use of existing arrangements.

Addo said more significantly, a toll had reportedly already been announced for the Accra-Kumasi Expressway without parliamentary approval, with the toll reportedly estimated at US$20, even though the contract had yet to be awarded.

He said the Minister for Finance and his team had also announced that dedicated funds had been placed at the BoG for the Accra-Kumasi Expressway, as if this were the first time such a financing arrangement had been developed.

He said they had stressed that the Accra-Kumasi Expressway was being financed without external borrowing, creating the impression that it was a new and novel initiative.

However, the same basic financing model had already been developed and applied under the original ATEL framework, Addo said.

He said the central question was not whether Ghana should construct the Accra-Kumasi Expressway, noting that Ghana needed better roads and reliable expressway infrastructure.

"The real question is whether citizens are being given an accurate account of who developed the financing model, what has already been implemented, why the existing SPV is not being used, and why a substantially similar initiative is being presented as new," Addo stated.

"This is the kind of leadership being provided to the country while some citizens applaud without examining the public record. National development requires honesty, yet the lies continue unabated. The truth will ultimately be established by the available records," he added.