Roads Minister Requests 1,000 Additional Staff to Address Personnel Gaps Across Agencies
Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza, the Minister for Roads and Highways, has requested the recruitment of approximately 1,000 additional staff to strengthen operations and address widening personnel gaps across road sector agencies in Ghana.
Appearing before Parliament’s Economy and Development Committee during a public hearing on Wednesday, the Minister explained that the creation of six new regions without a corresponding increase in staffing for road agencies has left key technical departments severely overstretched.
The demand for additional personnel has become necessary due to the expansion of administrative regions without a corresponding increase in staffing for road agencies, Mr Agbodza told the Committee. He noted that engineers and quality assurance personnel were particularly stretched, affecting the efficiency of project supervision and delivery nationwide.
The Adaklu Member of Parliament pointed out that the situation was most acute in newly created regions where institutional capacity remained weak. The current staffing levels, he stressed, were insufficient to meet the demands of ongoing infrastructure projects across the country.
If you consider the fact that we are investing heavily on these projects, part of the reason some of the projects suffer quality assurance is simply because we do not have enough people to monitor these projects, the Minister explained to the Committee.
The staffing crisis has direct implications for the quality of Ghana’s road infrastructure, an issue that has featured prominently in public discourse. Concerns about the management and execution of major road projects have been raised by traditional leaders, including Togbui Adzonugaga Amenya Fiti V, the Paramount Chief of the Aflao Traditional Area, who recently called on government to ensure the full implementation of the Big Push road project amid growing flood concerns.
Mr Agbodza revealed that government had earlier approved 137 staff at various levels for the Ghana Highways Authority alone, covering quantity surveyors, engineers, and other technical roles. However, the Chief Director has since submitted a fresh request for approximately 1,000 personnel to address gaps across all road sector agencies.
We have got approval for 137 staff at various levels, QSEs, engineers and everything, but that was just for highways. The Chief Director has since submitted a request for about 1,000, because do not forget, we created six new regions and did not actually staff them with new staff, he added.
The Minister assured Parliament that efforts were underway to address the staffing challenges and improve the operational capacity of the Ministry and its agencies. He emphasised that addressing the personnel gap was critical to strengthening monitoring, ensuring quality assurance, and enhancing overall service delivery in the road sector.
The recruitment request is currently under consideration by the relevant government agencies.
Image Source: GHANA BUSINESS NEWS
