We must broaden road toll system to address inequality – Bawumia
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has called for a broad-based road-tolling system that would include the wealthy in the country.
According to him, the current tolling architecture disproportionately affects less affluent communities while exempting wealthier areas.
His suggestion comes after the Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, revealed that the government has approved plans to reintroduce road and bridge tolls in 2025 during the presentation of the 2024 mid-year fiscal policy review in Parliament.
Speaking at the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Ghana Highways Authority, Dr Bawumia suggested that the time is ripe for a tolling system that ensures all citizens, regardless of their socioeconomic status, contribute to the country’s infrastructure development.
“I’d like to make a suggestion that you could consider. Some may say it is provocative. If we are going into our road tolling, we need to think about broad-base tolling. The current architecture that we have in tolling tends to exclude the wealthy parts of the population.
“So if I live in Cantonments, East Legon, Ridge, among others which are the high-earning 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,” he said on Wednesday.
Dr Bawumia believed this would bring equitable distribution of tolls, ensuring that all road users, including those from affluent neighborhoods, contribute.
“There seems to be an inequity in tolling and I believe that we should look at broad-base tolling because why shouldn’t everybody pay?” he quizzed.
In 2021, the government canceled road toll collections after introducing the e-levy which has failed to live up to its promise.
Source: myjoyonline
