The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Donatus Atanga Akamugri, has engaged ARACO Construction Limited to repair the dangerous stretch of the Bolgatanga Bawku Pulmakon Road toward the timber market in Bolgatanga East.
The unmotorable portion has raised grave concerns due to a high number of accidents and unbearable dust across the region.Mr. Akamugri said they had tried to get the main contractor to return to the site, but procedural matters meant that had not yet happened. He stressed the urgency, the road is becoming dangerous, has cost lives, and has wounded people, so it is important to do something about that portion of the road.
Speaking exclusively to the media during an engagement with ARACO Construction Limited on 9 April 2026, Mr. Donatus Atanga Akamugri noted that they spoke to the highways engineer to get one of the contractors in the who could come and do meaningful work on the Bolgatanga Bawku Pulmakon Kulaa bridge stretch so that at least they’ll save lives on the road while efforts continue to bring the main contractor back for the full project. “So they we’re able to get this contractor to agree to come and work on the road to make it more motorable and to reduce the accidents,” he said.
He added that once they heard the citizens’ cries and spoke to the MP of the area, they were able to get the contractor to respond to the people. As the minister, he came to the site to see the contractor and to ensure they attend to the call of the people. He took the opportunity to thank the youth and concerned citizens who are planing staged a large demonstration demanding that the government reimburse the main contractor to return and finish the entire Bolgatanga Bawku Pulmakon road project.
Mr Donatus Atanga Akamugri noted that because they had information the demonstrators were going to take to the streets, they appealed to them to stand down; the demonstrators planned a second protest for the following day.
Mr. Donatus Atanga Akamugri appealed to the youth and concerned citizens of Bolgatanga East and the region for patience, saying they are all concerned and pleased that mounting pressure compelled duty-bearers to act. He said this response is part of the government’s reaction to the people’s cry, and that the main contractor will return to complete the project.
He asked the youth to exercise patience and wait for the contractor’s return to complete the actual work that is supposed to be done. “So as we’ve come we’ll take this opportunity to thank the youth and the concerned citizens because we had the information they were going to go on demonstration so we appealed to them to come down and then later on we got the second time that they are going to hit the street again tomorrow.
So we’ll take this opportunity to plead with them that we are all concerned and we are happy that they are mounting pressure on duty bearers to respond and this is part of the our response to their cry and so the government has come in and then the main contractor for the project will come to work on it while we address the issue here.
So we appeal to the youth to exercise patience and wait for us for the return of the contractor to take off i mean to complete the actual work that is supposed to be done to ensure that what has been causing loss of lives will be addressed” Mr Donatus Akamugri noted.
Background.
The Bolgatanga–Bawku–Pulmakon road was abandoned in the first week of February 2023. In August 2025 the contractor Quiróz Galvao returned to the site hoping the government would reimburse them to finish the project work that could have been completed in 2020. However, they withdrew all machinery from the Bolgatanga–Kulaa bridge stretch in the second week of October 2025 after the government failed to pay outstanding arrears. Investigations reveal the contractor initially returned in August 2025 using its own resources, hoping to continue the project after leaving in February 2023.
Mr Papa Jake an engineer of the Araco construction limited said their mission is to reshape and compact the road to make it motorable for residents and vehicles, after which they would introduce speed ramps to reduce accidents. They began work within the week and expect to finish the immediate repairs to make the road passable, though they will not put a final coat on the road at this stage.
Source:mywordfmonline.com/Gaspard Adongo Ayuureneeya