The Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Kwesi Botchwey, made the announcement at a meeting with President Nana Akufo-Addo on Tuesday.

The commission is made up of 24 members.

[contextly_sidebar id=”1gp5o50SfFVFF2W7ATChLis4Jv8vexZW”]”…And now our work having been done, Mr. President; this is the most important part of our mission, we as a commission, chaired by me would like to collectively stand down, bring our tenure as a commission to a close,” Dr. Botchwey added.

He explained that the members decided to step down not because the constitution requires them to, but “in order to give you Mr. President the opportunity to recompose, recast the commission in accordance with your own vision and priorities as well as in the supreme interest of our country.”

The Commission also used the opportunity to present to the President its work so far, which the Chairman described as “close to completion.”

“Mr. President I’d like to at this stage present to you the documents of the plan including the national long term plan itself and a summary of its highlights and crucially the infrastructure plan and its highlights. And finally, this is work in progress Mr. President; we can’t seem to suggest that we’ve written everything. We have put the plan document in as close to completion as possible.  But we recognize that it may require further review, further work and we are happy as a group to help in any way that we can to bring to complete such a review if necessary,” he added.

Dr. Botchwey took over from P.V. Obeng in 2014

Kwesi Botchwey was a appointed as the chairman of the NDPC in 2014, after the death of Ing. P. V. Obeng.

40-year plan launched

Former President John Mahama in August 2015 launched a process for the preparation of a long-term National Development Plan for the country which will span within a period of 40 years.

The plan, which was being spearheaded by the NDPC, is aimed at shaping Ghana’s future and complementing the existing medium-term development plans of the country.

Dr. Botchwey had prior to the December 2016 general elections advised the various political parties not to neglect the implementation of Ghana’s National Development plan.

According to him, the plan must be incorporated into political parties’ manifestos to ensure the country’s set development targets are met in spite of political transitions.

Below is the full list of members of the commission retrieved from NDPC’s website:

Dr. Kwesi Botchwey – Chairman
Dr. Esther Ofei-Aboagye – Vice Chairperson
Dr. Nii Moi Thompson – Director-General
Mr Ebenezer T. Anuwa – Greater Accra Region
Prof. Seth O. Asiama – Ashanti Region
Dr. Ato Quarshie – Central Region
Mr Joseph D. Kobinah – Western Region
Mr Ntim-Adjei Jacob Buabeng – Brong Ahafo Region
Mr. George D. Abdul – Eastern Region
Prof. Seidu Al-hassan – Northern Region
Amb. Donald A. Adabre – Upper East Region
Dr. Emmanuel K. Derbile – Upper West Region
Dr. Edith Tetteh – Volta Region
Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi
Mr. Kwame Peprah
Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa
Dr. Fritz Gockel
Mr. Steve Akuffo
Mr. Charles Abugre
Prof. David Millar
Dr. Dzodzi Tsikata
Nana Oye Mansa
Dr. Nii Noi Ashong
Mr Kwame Jantuah

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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Sammi Wiafe/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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According to the Chairman of the Commission, Dr Kwesi Botchwey, the plan must be incorporated into the political parties’ manifestos to ensure the country’s set development targets are met in spite of political transitions.

[contextly_sidebar id=”GO1Q2yPf5RWQMPLUwYHYCYqGIct7kVwS”]Speaking in an interview with to Citi News, Mr Botchwey said there is the need to find ways of entrenching the work of the planning commission to be binding on all political parties such that all governments will consider it in planning for the development of the country.

“Ways should be found for entrenching the role and binding the work of the planning commission so that the [national development] plan will be secured from the vicissitudes of the political transitions… it is more of a matter that Civil Society buys into the plan and is so convinced about its merits that they will hopefully politically punish those political parties that stray from the vision,” he said.

He attributed the slow pace of the implementation of the plan to the over-reliance on political party manifestos by successive governments.

He noted that the country is better placed to achieve most of its developmental goals if it focuses more on the national development plan, rather than their individual manifestos.

‘EC is credible and efficient’

Dr Kwesi Botchwey also said that Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) is credible and efficient considering how it has managed to address all the challenges including court actions brought against it in the run up to this year’s general elections.

“The fact that the Commission is managing these challenges and at the same time attending to the business of preparing for the elections, I think speaks to the strength of that institution we created,” he said.

“We are often in a rush as a people to just run down every institution that we create. The important thing is that we have an institution that allows the Commission to do its work in accordance with its laws and also allow the citizenry without hindrance to go to court when they please,” he added.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Don’t ignore national dev’t plan – NDPC to parties appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.