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
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Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee, he argued that, the 40-year development plan is too rigid and would prevent various governments from implementing new ideas.

[contextly_sidebar id=”0TK7egWbospclmb9qEs028t5j01nlhEK”]Prof. Baffuor further noted that, this would only lead to successive governments violating the long-term plan to see their own ideas come to fruition.

His comments follow that of the Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, who downplayed the relevance of a 40-year national development plan,  saying a long-term development plan must be limited to 10 years due to world economic conditions and advancements in technology.

In Prof. Baffuor’s view, a long-term vision with a specific set of goals would be more appropriate.

“I think Ghana needs a long-term development vision. Ghana needs a long term set of goals. Ghana needs a long term perspective plan. Ghana needs a long-term view about where we want to be 40 years from now. But Ghana does not need a 40-year unqualified development plan… If you do that, there is nothing they [Governments] can do and they will violate it. So it is not a good idea to come out with a plan as such.”

Prof. Baffuor made references to the UN’s Millenium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals, which he said were malleable enough for “any country to fit in.”

He also said the Vision 2020 launched by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government in 1995 as blueprint for sustainable socio-economic development was also in the right direction.

“So we need a vision like that [Vision 2020], we need a framework like that; but we don’t need a plan that will be so restrictive… I don’t want anything to be called a plan if it goes beyond a certain period of time. So if they [governments] are coming in like that, we don’t need a very long term plan that will restrict them. They will violate it. I think we should go for a vision statement or a vison for 40 years but not a restrictive plan for 40 years,” Prof Baffuor said.

The 40-year development plan

The 40-year National Development Plan for Ghana (2018-2057) was launched in 2015 to provide a framework for national development binding on successive governments.

The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), which is headed by Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, consulted various stakeholders and considered the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the development plan.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He attributed the slow pace of development in the country to the use of political party manifestos, which did not respond to the National Development agenda and tasked Members of Parliament (MP) to help resolve the challenge.

Mr Azasoo specifically tasked MPs to make input into the preparation of party manifestos to ensure that the documents were not “against” the national agenda.

He was speaking at a capacity building workshop organised, by the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) in collaboration with the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) for Parliamentary Aspirants in the Southern belt of the country.

The workshop, on the theme, “Election 2016: Promoting Policy-issue-based Debate and Post-election Accountability at the Constituency level,” was to prepare participants for an impending parliamentary platform ahead of the December Poll.

Mr Azasoo said manifestos, which were-short term programmes of interest to woo the electorate for votes, were largely irrelevant until they reflected the national development agenda to avoid situations where politicians always said they were building the foundations of the economy.

“How many times do we build foundations? he asked. “ In Ghana, every Government is building foundations because their manifestos go left when the national development plan says right, but we must stop this to move forward,” he stated.

Mr Azasoo said the priorities and approaches may differ but the documents ought to correspond.

He said the challenge was that some MPs who were supposed to help develop the manifestos of their parties were not conversant with the national development plan and urged them to acquaint themselves with the national development plan.

Mr Azasoo also asked MPs to interrogate Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies on the level of implementation of their medium-term development plans and hold them accountable to ensure that public funds were not misapplied.

Madam Regina Tetteh, the Coordinator of the training, said this year’s parliamentary debate sought to ease growing tension in the build up to the December Polls by streamlining campaign messages of political aspirants to focus on the pertinent policy issues affecting the vulnerable groups in the 50 purposively selected constituencies.

She said the debate would provide opportunity to persons with disabilities, persons living with HIV and AIDS, youth and women to interact with prospective legislators on issues affecting them to ensure their inclusion in the political and governance process.

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Source: GNA

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