The Ministry of Transport has refuted accusations by the Minority in Parliament that it overspent its 2025 capital expenditure by nearly GHC10 million. The Ministry insists the figures being cited are misleading and do not reflect a breach of fiscal rules.

In a media clarification, Transport Minister Joseph Nikpe Bukari explained that the funds in question were not extra spending but payments approved by the Ministry of Finance to service existing loans taken by the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA). He said these loans, contracted under the Akufo-Addo administration between 2021 and 2022, financed the construction of GMA office complexes in Tema, Accra, and Takoradi.

According to the Minister, the original loan repayments were not included in the previous budgets, creating an obligation the Ministry had to regularise:

“The Ghana Maritime Authority in 2021–2022 contracted some loans from Ecobank and other financial institutions, but the repayment wasn’t catered for in the budget. So the Ghana Maritime Authority wrote to me asking me to do the same to the Minister for Finance to allow us to service the loan that they contracted.”

He added that the intent was not to incur new costs, but to ensure continued progress on the facilities:

“The loan that they took to build the Tema office block, the Accra office, and the Takoradi office. So we were rather making provisions to continue with the construction of the project that they took money for and couldn’t finish.”

Mr. Bukari described the Minority’s claims as unfounded and emphasized that all expenditures were accommodated within approved budget allocations:

“It is not that we overspend. In any case, if you are not approved for any amount of money, you don’t have it in the first place. So how do you overspend?”

He further cited the Public Financial Management Act, stressing that Section 32 allows a spending officer to formally request the Finance Minister to make necessary payments to maintain operational continuity:

“It was within our budget, and the Public Financial Management Act section 32 allows any other spending officer to write to the Minister of Finance to make a payment for you to cater for your daily operations.”