The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), will hold its 13th National Development Forum (NDF) on Tuesday October 27, in Accra.
Dr. Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, Director-General, NDPC, speaking at a press launch of the event in Accra, said the 13th forum would be on the theme: “Towards Election 2020: Political Party Manifestos and Long-Term Strategic Needs of Ghana”.
He noted that Forum would consider among others the policy trade-offs between short-term political gains and long-term sustainability of the national development agenda and how to balance short term public expectations often captured in political party manifesto and the national development agenda expressed in medium to long term plans and strategies.
The keynote address of the forum would be delivered by Professor Peter Quartey, Director, Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana, Legon.
It would be chaired by Professor Emeritus Stephen Adei, Chairman of the NDPC.
The Forum’s panellists include Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye, Chairperson, Star Ghana Foundation and Prof Joseph Atsu Ayee, Department of Political Science, University of Ghana.
Dr Mensah-Abrampa said electoral manifestos played a crucial role in the visions of party democracy, adding that they provided a compendium of valid party propositions and were used as political campaign material.
“Political parties that are successful, form governments having raised expectation of public with their political campaign promises.”
He noted that since the focus of performance was based on their political manifestos, consistency with the long-term sustainable development agenda of the country was not assured neither the continuity of programmes, projects and key development initiatives guaranteed.
He said the reliance on, demand for and utilisation of short-term manifestos was increasingly dominating the national development agenda setting, shifting the focus from national development planning and implementation, which usually took the form of medium-to-long-term planning to short-term political agenda.
Dr Mensah-Abrampa said the implications for mobilization and utilization of financial as well as human resources, the management of the economy, and the sustainability of delivery of essential services, were immense.
He said the presentations and discussions would reflect on how the perceived needs of the public were juxtaposed with the broader national requirements for economic stability and growth, and advancing of social progress within a party manifesto-driven context.
He intimated that the challenge was “should Ghana as a country eat all the eggs today or wait for them to hatch into chicks to lay eggs and provide a sustainable supply of eggs?”
Dr Mensah-Abrampa reiterated that the occasion would also be used to launch the Ghana@100 Long-Term Development Framework.
He said the forum would be streamed live on NDPC Facebook pages.
The NDF Forum series were initiated by NDPC in May 2019 for collating the
opinions of diverse stakeholders, with a view to promoting broad-based participation of the citizenry and engendering citizens’ ownership of the national development agenda.
The central theme of the Forum is,”Ghana@100: An Agenda Towards a Solidly Developed Nation.”
He said the target audience of the Forum comprised experts and practitioners, both public and private, in the specific domains of the Forum, with representation from academia, research community and policy analysts; civil society organisations; trade and professional associations; development partners, the development authorities and the public, who were the intended beneficiaries of the forum’s outcomes.
Dr Mensah-Abrampa said the involvement of women and the youth at all levels, and reflection of views across generations was of special interest.
The Director-General also extended the 13th NDPF’s invitation to members of the public.
GNA