President John Dramani Mahama has inaugurated a 37-member National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) with a task to deliver a “bold and transformative path” for the country’s development.
He wants the Commission to develop a long-term development plan that would transcend political regimes to Ghana’s progress for generations.
The Commission amongst others is mandated to co-ordinate the decentralised development planning systems both at the district, regional and national levels.
Swearing in the Commission in Accra yesterday, President Mahama charged the Commission to develop the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies in line with the NDPC Act, 1994, (Act 479).
The programme, which he is enjoined to present to Parliament within two years, would form the basis for the medium-term national development policy framework.
He underscored the need for the Commission to broadly consult with the citizenry to draw a development plan that addresses the needs of the people.
President Mahama observed that nearly seven decades after independence, Ghana’s economy continue to rely heavily on a narrow range of primary commodities, with limited diversification and value addition.
He noted the existence of multiple long-term development plans including the Ghana Beyond Aid Charter, the Ghana@100 Long-term Development Framework, and the Vision 2057 Perspective Framework.
President Mahama urged that, in close collaboration with Parliament, the frameworks are consolidated into a single working document for easy implementation.
Chairman of the Commission, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, said the Commission would support the President to deepen decentralisation in the country.
Dr Thompson commended President Mahama for government’s decision to decentralise the management of waste by tasking the assemblies with the responsibility to manage their own sanitation.
“We need more of such decentralisation. The practice of procuring goods and services for district assemblies from Accra does not only undermine their ability to manage their own affairs, but it also represents the extraction and repatriation of wealth from those districts to Accra. It aggravates inequality and undermines the Constitutional objective of equitable development,” Dr Thompson stated.
Other members of the Committee are the ministers for finance, gender, children and social protection, tourism, culture and creative arts, local government, chieftaincy and religious affairs, trade, agribusiness and industry, labour, jobs and employment, representation from all 16 regions, organised labour, academia, amongst others identifiable groups.
The Commission is expected to work through eight sub-committees in the areas of the economy, transport and logistics, energy and private sector development, agriculture and natural resources, employment, productivity, and earnings, public sector reforms and governance, social development, and infrastructure and land use management.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
