- "Wether we like it or not , NDC and NPP are the dominant parties, forget about the others, if they can agree on certain fundamentals, it will be on of the biggest victory."
Prof Baffour Agyeman-Duah, a political historian has suggested to the two main political parties – National Democratic Congress and New Patriotic Party – to merge their visions into a unified national plan.
The former UN senior governance advisor believes that agreeing on such a decision will be one of the biggest victories for the country’s burgeoning democracy.
Sharing his thoughts on 54 years after the overthrow of Ghana’s first President Dr Kwame Nkrumah on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Thursday (24 February), Agyeman-Duah said having such document will help fast track the country’s socio-economic development.
“The first lesson has been learnt already and enshrined in our constitution, which is the avoidance of dictatorship. But on the development side which is a critical side, what we can learn from Nkrumah, was his vision of long planning and sticking to it, that vision,” he said.
“I wish our two dominant parties can meet and somewhere merge their vision into one complete national vision, so whoever comes to power will be obliged to meet that vision.
“Whether we like it or not, NDC and NPP are the dominant parties, forget about the others, if they can agree on certain fundamentals, it will be one of the biggest victories,” Agyeman-Duah said.
Absence of national strategic plan affecting Ghana’s development
Meanwhile, a security consultant Captain (retired) Budu Koomson is advocating that Ghana establish a national strategic plan to facilitate the country’s development, irrespective of the political party in power.
Budu Koomson says that the absence of a plan of this kind is robbing the nation of the development it needs in critical areas such as housing, health and education.
Talking to Kwaku Nhyira-Addo on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Thursday (13 January) on the topic “50 years on from Acheampong’s coup: effects and defects”, Budu Koomson said: “I think and actually, I am convinced, [Ghana’s only modest progress] is because we lack a national strategic plan.
“You see what we are doing? We are going in circles, because we are coming back to the same things, but in an uncoordinated way.
“If we had a proper strategy document in the nation, something like housing would feature as a strategic objective, as a critical success factor, because we need housing. Transportation will feature; health and education and all these key points will be taken as critical success factors.
“And we will want to see: in 50 years where do we want to be? … and then we will work on these lines, put in reasonable plans, and say that in five to ten years we can get here.
“So that when you come [into office], it is not like you are now coming to do housing: housing is already a national strategic objective, so what part of housing are you going to do?” Budu Koomson said.
Fred Dzakpata
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