The Minister-nominee for Planning, Professor Gyan Baffuor, has suggested that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government may ignore the 40-year development plan compiled by the National Development Planning Commission under the previous government.
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.
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 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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