Finance Ministry: Road tolls idea a proposal for now

The Ministry of Finance says the rates for the re-introduction of tolls on the country’s roads is a proposal yet to be subjected to consultations and approvals by relevant stakeholders.

The matter, which has become a subject of controversy, follows a leaked letter from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Roads and Highways.

The Finance Ministry, in a statement, explained that the letter “sought to convey proposed rates for the tolling of roads and highways to Ministry of Roads and Highway as part of broader consultations on the revenue generation policy.”

It noted that the proposed rates for the tolling of roads and highways form part of broader consultations on the revenue generation policy.

The Ministry, therefore, entreated the media to be circumspect with their reportage on the leaked letter as “the rates included in the letter are only proposals to be subjected to consultations and approvals at appropriate levels.”

Proposed rates

The new development comes two years after the Ministry of Roads and Highways directed the cessation of toll collection across the country.

It was to remove some of the charges the public paid to court support for the introduction of the new Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy).

On the proposed new rates, cars paying 50Gp will pay GHC1 under the amended LI, while pick-ups, light duty trucks and mammy wagons will pay GHC1.50, up from the previous GHC1.

Heavy buses and light goods trucks will now move away from paying GHC1.50 to paying GHC2, while medium goods trucks (three axles) and heavy-duty goods trucks (four axles) will now pay GHC3, from the GHC2 they were paying before the collection of tolls on major highways and bridges was abolished.

Other proposed increments are heavy goods trucks, which are five axles or more, now to pay GHC3.50, up from GHC2.50, while motorbikes will now pay 50Gp, up from 10Gp, with agricultural tractors, with or without trailers, paying GHC1, up from 50Gp.

Parliament Committee

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Parliament’s Roads and Highways Committee in Parliament, Kennedy Osei Nyarko, wants road tolls pegged at GHC5, saying setting the toll at GHC5 will help the government generate more revenue for the country.

Speaking to journalists about the matter, Mr Nyarko said only that amount of money will be considered as the toll rate.

“After suspending the road tolls for more than a year, why do we just add 50 pesewas to it? As the Roads Committee Chair, I will not support anything less than GHC5. I am doing that based on the average road toll in the sub-region and globally which is $1,” he said.

The government has revised the schedules of the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2022, (Act 1080).

The amendments are in line with the government’s intention to restart collecting tolls on some roads pending the completion of the steps to identify the roads and highways to be affected by the reintroduction of the tolls.