The government is set to reintroduce road tolls in 2025 following their suspension in 2021.

Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam announced this plan during the mid-year budget review in Parliament on July 23, revealing that Cabinet has approved a framework to facilitate the tolls’ return.

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer, had advocated for the return of road tolls earlier in June.

He argued that road tolls are essential for funding infrastructure development, given the government’s current financial constraints.

Bawumia criticized the reliance on the national budget for road projects and suggested that involving the private sector through road tolling could be a viable solution.

The government had previously abolished road tolls in 2021, aiming to replace them with the e-levy. However, the e-levy has not met expectations, prompting the decision to reinstate tolls in 2025.

“Let us go back to a system of broad-based road tolls. The tolling system has to come back, and I think it will come back.

“It is a fundamental mistake of the government to place all road projects on the budget. The government doesn’t have enough money and the private sector has to be brought in,” he noted.