The Minister of Roads and Highways, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has called for a review of the one-year defect liability period attached to road contracts, arguing that the arrangement is inadequate for holding contractors accountable for poor-quality roads.
During an inspection of the Accra-Kumasi N6 highway on September 29, 2026 the Minister said it was unreasonable for contractors and consultants to be released from liability just one year after the completion of projects that cost government billions of cedis.
He said extending the defect liability period would allow contractors to be held responsible for defects that emerge after completion. According to him, if a road is designed to last 30 years, the contractor’s liability should extend beyond a minimal one year.
Mr Agbodza said he was engaging the Ministers of Finance and Works and Housing on changing the arrangement. He said the reform was intended to protect public investment, enforce project specifications and encourage contractors to deliver durable roads.
He expressed confidence in Ghanaian engineers and contractors, saying stronger accountability, supervision and adherence to specifications could help ensure roads withstand the test of time and reduce frequent repairs. The reform, he said, would ensure that public funds produce benefits.
The Minister’s proposal comes at a time when Ghana can ill afford to keep spending scarce public resources on roads that deteriorate prematurely. It is a question of value for money and whether taxpayers receive the lifespan they paid for.
The concern is not theoretical. The Auditor-General has previously found roads with potholes and depressions before they had served half their expected life. In an audit of selected urban road works in Greater Kumasi, the Audit Service noted that more than GH¢1.3 billion was spent on maintenance between 2015 and 2019, amid concerns about road quality. The Service has stressed that road works must meet specifications to secure value for money.
The one-year liability period, therefore, deserves a serious review. If a road is designed to serve for decades, it is difficult to justify a system under which responsibility for defects can end after 12 months. A longer, defined liability period would give contractors a stronger reason to get the fundamentals right from the beginning, rather than leave taxpayers carrying the cost when problems emerge later.
But extending liability alone will not solve the problem. Government must strengthen supervision, testing and certification. Specifications must be enforced, variations properly controlled and defects independently assessed. Otherwise, a longer liability period could simply postpone disputes rather than improve construction quality.
There must also be fairness. Contractors should not be held responsible for defects caused by poor maintenance, abnormal use or failures unrelated to their workmanship. Revised contracts should clearly define responsibilities and provide mechanisms for resolving disagreements.
We welcome the Minister’s confidence in Ghanaian engineers and contractors. If local professionals can deliver roads to international standards, the public should also expect contracts and oversight systems that demand those standards.
The Chronicle therefore believes the proposed reform should move beyond extending the number of years on paper. It should form part of a broader accountability framework in which quality is measured, payments are tied to compliance, with firm, clear consequences for non-compliance, defects are traced to responsibility, and taxpayers are protected.
Ghana does not simply need more roads. It needs roads that last.
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