The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has launched a midterm evaluation report on the government’s development policy framework in Takoradi in the Western Region.
The report, which was drafted in 2020 by launching the implementation process of the Medium-Term National Development Policy Framework, assessed the progress achieved in implementing policies, programmes and projects towards national development.
The four-year policy framework (2018-2021), dubbed “Agenda for Jobs: Creating Prosperity and Equal Opportunity for All”, was prepared to operationalise the government’s Co-ordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies (CPESDP).
The District League Table III (DLT), which served as a tool for tracking national development, highlighting districts that were performing well and those which were doing less well, was also launched.
The DLT was developed by the NDPC in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).
Limitations
The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, who launched the report, said the NDPC required ministries, departments and agencies, regional co-ordinating councils (RCCs) and the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to monitor, evaluate and report on progress with implementing government policies and programmes.
He said that over the years, MMDAs have submitted progress reports to the NDPC and though many did not meet the required timelines, tremendous achievements have been made.
He said the evaluation report identified certain challenges. These include data limitations, which has affected the quality of reports produced and inadvertently affected decisions made at national, regional and district levels.
Okyere Darko-Mensah also said that there is limited information in the reports on core and district-specific indicators. He called on stakeholders to provide substantial feedback to the NDPC so it can improve on the data provided to help prepare progress reports.
Auguries for development
Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, director general of the NDPC, said the Commission, in fulfilment of its constitutional mandate, prepared the current Medium-Term National Development Policy Framework, which will help the country to achieve its vision of development and become a prosperous nation.
He said the policy framework provided the vision, goals and objectives, as well as strategic direction for Ghana’s development within the medium term. He further explained how a midterm evaluation was conducted in 2020, piggybacking off the implementation process.
He described the DLT as a necessary tool to gain knowledge of how well district assemblies have performed and alert them where they can make improvements.
Dr Mensah-Abrampa expressed anxiety, however, about the lack of logistics to work with at the district level. Often in the past, this has led to some officers conjuring figures and statistics, he said, which did not augur well for the country’s development.
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