Dr. Bawumia advocates for broad-based tolling system as Ghana plans to reintroduce road tolls

Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has called for a comprehensive tolling system in Ghana to ensure that everyone contributes to road maintenance if tolls are reintroduced.

Speaking at a high-level discussion on roads in Accra on August 7, Dr. Bawumia noted that while the previous toll system generated GHS 70 million annually, a more inclusive approach could potentially yield up to GHS 2 billion per year.

Dr. Bawumia criticized the current tolling architecture, which he said disproportionately affects certain parts of the population. He suggested implementing a broad-based tolling system, possibly through a tax on fuel, to distribute the burden more equitably across all income levels. According to him, a system where everyone pays, even if minimally, could significantly increase revenue.

“Tolling right now is designed in many countries, you pay specific tolls at particular points. So you are going on the Tema-Accra motorway, you have a toll booth over there, you go to Kasoa there is a toll booth over there. But my view is that if we are going into tolling we need to think about broad-based tolling.”

“The current architecture that we have in tolling really turns to exclude even the wealthier part parts of the population. So I live in Cantonments, East Legon, and Ridge which are the high-earned neighborhoods, I will not see a toll but if I live in Kasoa or somewhere else I am likely to meet a toll on the way.  There seems to be an inequity in tolling. I believe that we should look at broad-based tolling.

“Why shouldn’t everybody pay? When we put taxes on fuel we look at some modeling on tolling as we were looking at the issue of tolling, we looked at the current toll revenue as before we abolished the tolls, there was about 70 million Ghana Cedis, per year.  What if everybody paid, so you put a tax on fuel, for example, 30 pesewas, meaning you move you pay,  if you don’t move you don’t pay.  If everybody paid you could generate about 2 billion Ghana Cedis a year compared to 70 million. That was the thinking and I think we should be thinking about methods that we could make the  tolling more broad-based  then we all contribute then the revenue will be much higher. So if you can find a way to do it digitally or whatever”, he added.

The discussion comes as the government prepares to reintroduce road tolls in 2025, following their cessation in 2021. The decision to reintroduce tolls follows the underperformance of the e-levy, which was initially introduced as a substitute for toll revenues. The Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, revealed that a framework has been approved by Cabinet to facilitate the reintroduction of tolls.