Three years after the suspension of road toll collection, former toll workers are expressing frustration over the government’s failure to honor promises made to them.
On November 17, 2021, toll collection was abruptly halted following the presentation of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, resulting in the loss of jobs for around 800 workers.
At the time, the government, through then-Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and Roads and Highways Minister Kwasi Amoako-Atta, assured the workers that they would be reassigned to alternative roles and given monthly allowances in the interim.
However, three years later, the former workers say these promises have not been fulfilled, leaving them in a state of uncertainty.
Edward Duncan, General Secretary of the Ghana Toll Workers Union, voiced the union’s disappointment, expressing frustration over the government’s continued delays.
“The government has disappointed us. We want to set the record straight. So it has been three long years since the government has failed to fulfil any of the promises it gave us, two promises actually. The first one was that they were going to find alternate livelihoods for us.
“And the second one, which is attached to the first promise, is that they were going to pay us every month until they find alternate livelihoods for us. As it stands now, the government has not fulfilled any one of those promises.
“Contrary to what people are saying, government functionaries and party faithful are saying in the media space that we have been paid off or we have been settled, which is not true.”
