The Executive Representative of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), Ing. Yaa Obenewaa Okudzeto, has raised concerns that frequent political transitions are undermining continuity in Ghana’s long-term development planning, calling for reforms to protect national development agendas from administrative disruptions.
Speaking at the Citi Business Festival Roundtable Discussion held on Monday, June 15, on the theme, “Building Competitive Cities: Infrastructure, Innovation and Investment for Sustainable Economic Growth,” she argued that while Ghana has established institutions and frameworks to guide development, changes that accompany political transitions often affect the continuity needed to sustain long-term projects and policies.
According to her, the challenge is not the absence of a national vision, but ensuring that development plans remain on course regardless of changes in government and political leadership.
Ing. Okudzeto noted that the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has played a crucial role in shaping Ghana’s long-term development agenda, but said there is a need to strengthen institutional arrangements to ensure greater continuity.
“For us, we always speak of the national agenda, being a workable national agenda. And what does it look like? So the NDPC is a fantastic commission. However, it still has administrative challenges when it comes to the fact that you do have to elect people. Let’s say the Minister of Finance, who also comes on as a commissioner, every four years or eight years would have to be changed,” she said.
She explained that regular changes in office holders can create administrative disruptions that affect planning processes and the implementation of long-term development strategies.
The engineering expert stressed that sustainable development requires institutions capable of maintaining momentum on key national priorities beyond electoral cycles.
“We need to look at how we address administrative aspects of planning and think through it properly to see how best we can actually ensure there’s continuity without really kind of putting ourselves at risk,” she stated.
Her comments come amid growing discussions on the need for a more stable and predictable framework for national development planning, particularly as Ghana seeks to accelerate infrastructure development, industrialisation and economic growth.
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