Council of State approves NDPC’s Long term national development t Policy Framework

The entire membership of the Council of State on Tuesday has given their  full backing towards the National Development Planning Commission’s  long term national developmental policy framework which will ensure continuity in governance.

 They have also embraced the move for the upcoming consultation exercise which the

Commission will be exploring to turn around things in order to achieve a successful policy implementation.

The Council membership gave their full support when an entourage from the
National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) led by, Prof Kwesi Botchwey, the Chairman of the Commission paid a courtesy call on them at the castle to brief them on the plan and invite them to be part of the launch of the process for the collation of views for the a long-term development policy framework slated for August 4, 2015.

Mrs Cecilia Johnson, Chairperson of the Council who spoke on behalf of the members said she was extremely delighted about the steps the Commission is taking to ensure a
successful long term plan and the all-inclusive consultation approach the Commission is embarking upon.

She noted the entire Council is in full support of the idea and therefore really welcome the invitation, adding in future "we are ready to volunteer information and our doors are always open to the Commission".

"I can assure you that you'll have our full support, we will do everything possible to improve with you. We thank you very much for coming and so we look forward to our next meeting" Mrs Johnson hinted.

She described the exercise as a 'good' one, urging the Commission to invite members of the Council of State who are also the representatives of the people on the council to participate in the discussions at the grassroots level towards a successful formulation of the long-term development framework."

She however charged the commission to be high alert during the process and not hesitate to quickly inform the Council as soon as the consultation exercise begins so the members can contribute their quota for national development.

In her speech Mrs Johnson noted she became  'worried' at the first instance hearing  about the plan  regarding the collation of  views of all  political parties in their agenda knowing very well that political parties have divergent agenda which they work with. She cited for example being a socialist or capitalist amongst others.  But however, said her fears vanished when she later got clear insight into the whole idea after having been briefed by the commission. When she further described the move as a more 'tailored, important and successful future plan'.

The Chairman of NDPC, Prof Kwesi Botchwey, disclosed the long-term development framework is well structured in a way that will welcome divergent views of all political parties so as to avoid the incoherence in the manner Ghanaians behaves.

Dr Nii Moi Thompson, Director-General of NDPC, briefing the Council on the framework, alluded to the fact that the entire chapter of the Constitution Review Commission’s report of 2011 was devoted to calls by Ghanaians for a long-term national development plan means that the country is ready to take a longer view of national development and anticipate and address problems before they occur. 

He said the long-term national development plan, which is expected to span 40 years (2018-2057), “will be flexible enough for any government to draw up its own medium-term plans towards achieving the vision and goals of the plan, which are based on the Constitution and in particular, the Directive Principles of State Policy”.

He said all political parties had supported the need for such a high level framework and articulated their views, adding that the Petroleum Revenue Management Act has set out the basis for a long-term development framework for the utilisation of the oil revenue.

Prof Kwesi Botchwey was accompanied by the vice Chairperson of the Commission, Dr. Esther Ofei-Aboagye, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, Director-General of NDPC, Dr. Samuel Nii-Noi Ashong, former Deputy Finance Minister in the Kufuor administration and current chairman of the Commission’s Economic Policy Committee amongst other dignitaries of the Commission.