Economist Dr. Evans Nunoo has urged Parliament to grant the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) a stronger legal mandate to enforce continuity in national development plans and prevent successive governments from abandoning inherited projects.
Speaking on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Dr. Nunoo expressed concern that Ghana’s political cycle encourages waste and inconsistency, as every new administration often introduces new policies and projects without reference to existing national plans.
He argued that Ghana’s long-term development should be anchored in a unified framework under the NDPC, where all political parties agree on core national priorities before elections.
“It’s quite worrying that we have a National Development Planning Commission and yet these things are happening,” he said.
“If we should have a broad category of project policies we are supposed to go by, then the politicians are only to campaign on the strategies they are going to use to achieve those things.”
Dr. Nunoo added that under such a framework, politicians would not need to propose entirely new projects every election cycle. Instead, they would outline timelines and strategies for delivering on shared national goals.
“But if politicians start proposing fresh policies and projects without recourse to what is already in place, then we continue to see what we are seeing,” he noted.
He emphasized that strengthening the NDPC’s mandate would ensure development plans survive political transitions and reduce the cycle of waste that has plagued Ghana’s governance system.
His comments follow the launch of the NDPC’s 2024 annual report, which reviewed Ghana’s economic performance and progress toward national development targets.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
