The Minister-designate for Planning at the Presidency, Prof. George Gyan-Baffour, met with the Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, on 13th January, 2017, to discuss ways of working together to advance the president’s development agenda through the Long-Term National Development Plan (LTNDP).

Prof. Gyan-Baffour was once the Director-General of NDPC, during which he introduced the current four-year planning cycle to ensure continuity in national development. He also introduced the Annual Progress Reports (APRs) to monitor the performance of central government agencies as well as local governments.

The Minister-designate enquired about the Commission’s work in incorporating the government’s manifesto into the LTNDP to which Dr. Thompson responded, “We reviewed all the political parties’ manifestos during the elections, but once NPP won, we developed a matrix that aligns its manifesto with the five Strategic Goals and 25 strategic growth areas of the LTNDP.” He explained that the Goals aim at achieving economic, social, institutional and environmental transformation, while the growth areas were based on under-utilised capacity; job creation potential and export prospects, among others.

Dr. Thompson presented a copy of the matrix and other documents to the Minister-designate, and noted that once the government found the matrix satisfactory, the Commission would operationalise it through the first medium-term plan (2018-2021). In the immediate-term (2017), the Commission is combining a list of “catalytic initiatives” from the LTNDP with those in the manifesto for adoption and implementation, he said.

The Director-General disclosed that the Commission had also begun preparing timelines for the President to fulfil Article 36 (5) of the Constitution, which requires a new President to present, “within two years”, a “Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies” to Parliament.

Dr. Thompson said the Commission wishes to assist the President to present his Programme to Parliament in his first year. Prof. Gyan-Baffour commended the Commission for the work it has done so far. “I’m really impressed, and I look forward to working with you”, the former Director-General said, promising that he would ensure that concerns of the Commission are brought to the attention of the President and Cabinet.