President Akufo-Addo in a group photograph with some members of the NDPC at the Jubilee House
President Akufo-Addo wants the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) to be devoid of political influence and undercurrents.
He believes members of the commission will best serve the interest of Ghana when they discharge their duties effectively for the country without being influenced by partisanship.
He said this at the presidency (Jubilee House) in Accra on Friday when he inaugurated a 43-member board of the NDPC chaired by Professor Stephen Adei.
He charged members of the commission to, as a matter of priority, develop a planning policy that will transcend political regimes elected to exercise executive authority in the country at any given time. This was after he had administered the oaths of office and secrecy to the members of the board.
He indicated that the purpose of the NDPC is to advise the President on development planning policy strategy.
With the decision of the people of Ghana to organize their lives under the aegis of a democratic constitution, the country, according to the President, “envisaged that the competition for political power in our state will be taken over by political parties, and that means every four years, the possibility exists for one party or another to be in office – a mandate directly given by the people.”
He therefore told members of the board: “If indeed, the work you are to do, which is to advise the President on the planning and development of our country is to be successful, it means that you have to take into account this possibility that different parties with different manifestos, different understanding and commitments will occupy the executive authority of the state at any given time. Your ability to design a programme for our nation that enables the development of our nation to take place despite these changes in the face of the Executive is not an easy task that you have been assigned to do under the Constitution.”
“To be able to deliver on your mandate, it requires integrity, the recognition of what the realities of the nation are and what are the best methods through which the agenda of national development can be executed,” the President stressed, adding that “it is for this reason I want you to put aside your political ideologies and differences as you go about your work”.
On his part, Chairman of the Commission, Professor Stephen Adei, said his recent encounter with a group of university students who exhibited total ignorance about the history of Ghana . . . with no sense of patriotism gives him and his colleagues a clear challenge to change the scenario for the youth of the country.
Aside from that, he gave an assurance that the board would seek to develop and effectively communicate a clear development agenda for transformation for the country.
Board Composition
The NDPC Board is made up of 12 Ministers of State including the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta; Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen; Education Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh; among others.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Ernest Addison; Government Statistician, Samuel Kobina Annum and the Director-General of the NDPC, Grace Bediako, constitute institutional representation on the board. Additionally, 10 Regional Ministers of State are also members of the board as mandated by the Constitution.
There are three development economists on the board and three governance and international relations experts such as Professor Henrietta Mensa Bonsu. From the social sector, there are four members drawn from labour, gender & poverty, health, education and entrepreneurship, who are members of the board.
The private sector also has an Economist and Investment Expert, Dr. Nii Kwaku Sowa, as a member of the board.
Environmental Science/Infrastructure and Spatial Planning has five members on the board. Professor Takyiwaa Manu and the Chairman of the Board, Professor Stephen Adei, are the two government appointees on the board.
The NDPC
The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) was established under Articles 86 and 87 of the 1992 Constitution as part of the Executive.
The NDPC Act, 1994, (Act 479) and the National Development Planning (System) Act, 1994, (Act 480), provide the core legal framework for the establishment of the commission and the performance of its functions.
In accordance with the provision under Article 87 of the Constitution, the core mandate of the commission is to “advise the President on development planning policy and strategy” and “at the request of the President or Parliament, or on its own initiative, do the following:
study and make strategic analyses of macro-economic and structural reform options; make proposals for the development of multi-year rolling plans taking into consideration the resource potential and comparative advantage of the different districts of Ghana; make proposals for the protection of the natural and physical environment; make proposals for ensuring the even development of the districts of Ghana by the effective utilisation of available resources; and monitor, evaluate and coordinate development policies, programmes and projects.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent