President John Dramani Mahama has established a Big Push secretariat under the Office of the President to provide real-time monitoring of the $10 billion infrastructure program, warning Ghanaians that the entire country will become “a construction site” as projects begin simultaneously.
Speaking at the Ho groundbreaking ceremony of the Ho-Aflao road construction Tuesday , the President said the secretariat will employ engineers and monitoring staff who will conduct regular site visits, taking pictures and videos to track progress on all projects.
The system will allow him to monitor contractors’ work from Flagstaff House in real-time.
“I will be sitting in my office and I can see what First Sky is doing on the Ho-Aflao road. I can see what Oswal is doing on the Afienya-Dodowa road. I can see what every contractor working on every road in this country is doing,” he explained.
The monitoring team will visit projects regularly at every stage, documenting status through photographs and video footage.
The President apologized in advance for the inconvenience Ghanaians will experience as construction begins across all 16 regions.
“From the launch of this big push here, the whole of Ghana is going to become a construction site,” he said, urging citizens to bear with contractors during the construction period.
Projects have been deliberately broken into smaller segments to prevent any single contractor from taking 24 months to complete their work.
“We have not given any contractor two long stretches that will take him too much time. We’ve broken it up into pieces so that every contractor can work quickly and then they join their portions together,” President Mahama said.
The segmented approach aims to accelerate delivery while maintaining quality standards across the program. Multiple contractors will work simultaneously on connected road sections, with coordination managed through the presidential secretariat to ensure seamless integration of completed segments.
The President called for public patience as road construction inevitably creates traffic disruptions and travel delays.
“When we are driving, there will be some inconvenience because the road work will be going on. But know that we are suffering to gain,” he told the gathering.
He urged motorists to follow contractor signage and temporary traffic management systems without irritation.
The monitoring system represents an attempt to prevent the delays and quality issues that have plagued previous infrastructure projects.
Regular documentation and presidential oversight aim to maintain contractor accountability and ensure projects meet specifications and timelines.
Construction signs and detours will become common sights across Ghana as the program rolls out, with the President requesting public cooperation in following temporary traffic arrangements.
The inconvenience, he argued, is temporary pain for long-term infrastructure gains.
The presidential secretariat will coordinate with the Ministry of Roads and Highways to track progress against the program’s ambitious timeline.
With 14 billion cedis allocated for 2025 and 30 billion cedis planned for 2026, the monitoring system must ensure efficient use of resources across hundreds of road projects nationwide.
President Mahama acknowledged that the scale of simultaneous construction will test Ghana’s patience but emphasized the transformative potential of the program.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
