I could not take my special invitation to the recent debate on the proposed 40 year National Development Plan. Whilst I sorely missed the back-slapping, invigourating exchanges, I managed to participate love on radio and my recently addiction of social media.<\/p>\n
Good thing that I was spared having to choose between the very splendid positions presented by the two Kofis\u2019, viz. Agyeman-Badu Akosa & Bentil.\u00a0 Just as well, because I would have found myself stranded as to which was the more persuasive point of view<\/p>\n
My problem is simple; I hold \u00a0\u00a0the view that the notion of a \u201d40 year National Development Plan\u201d is not consistent with the practice of \u201cRepresentative Multi-party Democracy\u201d practiced under the 4the Republic\u00a0 of Ghana and indeed all other Republics before the onset of a one-party state under the first\u00a0 Republic.<\/p>\n
I would also like to propose that the so-called regional consultative meetings, planned by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), should be stopped in their tracks and the huge amounts of money that would be spent on the exercise be shelved and used to support the 2016 General Elections, and a possible national referendum on making the NDP legally binding on every democratically \u2013elected Ghana government for the next 40 years; if that is at all possible.<\/p>\n
You see we have been down this road before.\u00a0 Several millions of United States dollars went into a Constitutional Review Process under the late President John Mills. The process used a committee set up under one Executive to deliberate and deliver its output. The Executive that set it up is no more. The successor Executive is not bound by it; and there is no chance of any of the CRC proposals becoming the law of the land until such time that the Parliament and the entire population of Ghana have had their say through passage of acts and referenda.<\/p>\n
The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) was established under Articles 86 and 87 of the 1992 Constitution as part of the Executive.<\/p>\n
The NDPC\u2019s membership, spelled out in Article 86, comprises: 1. A Chairman who shall be appointed by the President in consultation with the Council of State; 2. The Minister responsible for Finance and such other Ministers of State as the President may appoint; 3. The Government Statistician; 4. The Governor of the Bank of Ghana; 5. One representative from each region of Ghana appointed by the Regional Coordinating Council of the region; and6. Such other persons as may be appointed by the President having regard to their knowledge and experience of the relevant areas and roles pertaining to development, economic, social, environmental and spatial planning<\/p>\n
Article 87 of the Constitution states the core mandate of the Commission is to \u201cadvice the President on development planning policy and strategy\u201d and, \u201cat the request of the President or Parliament, or on its own initiative\u201d<\/p>\n
So this is where the fun and games start. The same 4th<\/sup> Republican Constitution prescribes three very important pillars for selecting the President of Ghana. First, that the President shall be elected via universal adult suffrage (\u201cone person, one vote\u201d) 2. That, the person shall serve no more than two terms in office (maximum of 8 years), and last and most importantly, 3. Ghana shall be a multi-party state (no one party rule)<\/p>\n The above requirements alone mean that whilst the role of the NDPC may be perpetual for as long as the 4the Republic Constitution is in place, its membership and advice is under constant review as the mandates of Presidents are determined at the four yearly General Elections, of which the next one is scheduled for December 2016.<\/p>\n My own dear sister, Dr, Grace Bediako, Technical Adviser at the NDPC, is reported to have suggested that work is ongoing to make the 40-yer National Development Plan legally binding on successive governments. She is reported to have said a so-called white paper and the present NDPC\u2019s response to it would lead to legislation that will bring all governments under that kind of guidance<\/p>\n Well I am no constitutional law expert, but I cannot see this happening any time soon. I don\u2019t believe President Mahama can even bind a successor NDC President, let alone expect President Akufo-Addo to embrace a plan that has been put together by a Mahama-appointed NDCPC.\u00a0\u00a0 If this is not foreseen can we look to Presidents who will come long after we are all dead?<\/p>\n Unless there are fundamental changes to our Constitution to make this idea of perpetual succession embedded, we should simply forget the whole exercise and the obvious waste of money that would be frittered on endless consultative meetings and consultancies.<\/p>\n There is an industry that is fast gaining currency in this country. We have gotten deep into a patently false and undemocratic practice called “Stakeholder Consultations.”\u00a0 The process comprises of getting \u2018hand-picked so called stakeholders and lecturing them under the guise of garnering their views.<\/p>\n The NDPC has embarked on regional consultation processes\u201d to solicit views, comments, recommendations from chiefs, traditional leaders, community elders, the Assembly members, political party representatives Queen mothers, teachers, students and the ordinary Ghanaian that are needed to inform the preparation of the 40year plan for the nation.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know who ordinary Ghanaians are and what the purpose of this expensive exercise will achieve.\u00a0 However, I am afraid that whatever outcomes or concocted consensus is attained,\u00a0 as with the CRC recommendations, nothing will be binding on any President, current or future, until and unless the processes established under the constitution for electing our Executive or changing the constitution are adhered to strictly.<\/p>\n We have successfully fought off the perennial African disease of incumbents seeking third terms.\u00a0 This has put paid to the notion of |Presidents for Life\u201d. I do not envisage that my brother Mahama or any of the myriad of self \u2013declared CPP successors will seek the return of one-party rule in Ghana.<\/p>\n Lastly, I cannot see any President of Ghana, imminent or future or prospective, wanting to be bound by a NII MOI THOMPSON \u2013 inspired DEVELOPMENT PLAN, never mind the manifesto on which they won and obtained the mandate of the people of Ghana via an election conducted under universal adult suffrage<\/p>\n In the end, the ultimate stakeholders are the electorate of Ghana and the people they choose to give their mandate to. Rolling out ex-presidents Kuffuor & Rawlings is moot, especially without consulting Akufo-Addo or others in line to be our Executive.<\/p>\n Having been through a thoroughly pointless and very expensive CRC process, we should not put the scarce resources of a HIPC-qualified Ghana to a far better use, i.e. assisting the Electoral Commission of Ghana to prepare us for the only stakeholder consultation that matters, the General Election of December 7 2016.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Charles Wereko-Brobby (Dr)<\/p>\n Chief Policy Analyst , GIPPO<\/p>\n