President John Dramani Mahama today reiterated the government's decision to digitalize the collection of road tolls upon its resumption after 3 years following its abolishment.

However, some comments by the president at the 9th Ghana CEO Summit under the theme “Transforming business and governance for a sustainable futuristic economy” have been miscommunicated.

This has to do with the amount to be charged upon the automation of the road toll system.

It is reported that motorists will be charged GHC1 when the road toll system is reintroduced.

Already, some Ghanaians are reacting to this news. "1%E-levy replace with 1 cedi road toll, Hahahaaa same same. Ma tricky Ghana foɔ paa ooo," a Facebook user wrote.

However, this is false. The use of GHC1 by the president while remarking on leveraging technology to eliminate traditional toll booths was an illustration and not an announcement of a new charge.

The president said, "Every car is linked to the owner’s Ghana card, and so we don’t need to have the old toll gates and those cards that you’ll stand and open and all that. We will just go straight, digitalized."

"If it’s Ghc1, if you cross the East Legon bridge, Governor and Finance Minister, will all be happy. We just take a picture of your car, and we will take the bill to your mobile money or bank account and pay Ghc1.  Only Ghc1."

In March this year, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson revealed the incumbent government's plans to reintroduce road tolls this year using a technology-driven system aimed at boosting revenue for road maintenance and supporting economic recovery.

According to him, this modernized toll collection approach will help optimize revenue generation while minimizing traffic congestion caused by manual toll booths.

The road toll system was abolished by former Roads Minister Kwasi Amoako-Attah under the Akufo-Addo-led government in 2021.

The toll system was abolished to enable the previous government to generate more revenue equitably. The Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy) was introduced to replace the road toll system.

However, after the failure of the E-levy to generate the desired revenue, former Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam announced that Cabinet had approved a framework to facilitate the tolls' return during the mid-year budget review in Parliament on July 23, 2024.

As of now, it is unknown what rate the government will charge upon the reintroduction of the road toll system.