The Body tasked by the country�s Constitution to advise the President on development planning policy and strategy, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) seems to be struggling for survival in terms of money to carry out its mandate.
This situation is so grave that it has compelled a member of the PV Obeng-led Commission, Professor Agyemang Badu Akorsa, to express his frustration since in his own words, �it is totally broke!�
Among its core functions, the Commission is mandated to provide a national development policy framework and ensure that strategies including consequential policies and programmes are effectively carried out to enhance the well-being and living standards of all Ghanaians on a sustainable basis.
But the respected Professor in Pathology who is also a former Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) who spoke on Accra-based Citi FM said they do not have funds to perform their functions.
�There is no money to do anything,� he told his host on the programme dubbed Citi Breakfast Show.
Since the beginning of the year, Professor Akosa said, �they�ve (referring to the NDPC) had only first quarter trench of funding. I am a commissioner and I can say this on authority.�
His concerns come on the heels of similar concerns expressed by the Head of Monitoring and Evaluation at the office of the President, Dr Tony Aidoo, who complained of virtual neglect and nonpayment of his office staff since the beginning of the year.
In the case of Professor Akosa, he could not fathom why and how his colleague members of the Commission continued to go to work, saying, �Why people get up and even come to work, only God knows.�
This, he said, was because �the NDPC is doing pretty much a lot of work on nothing.�
�I have said that by the year 2035, the country�s population will be 48 million. Who is sitting there today planning how that population will impact on this country? Nobody!�
He was therefore disappointed at the level of importance government attached to the work given them, since according to him, �it�s got to be resourced that even if this country has only got GH�1,000, maybe GH�500 of that GH�1,000 should be given to NDPC.�
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