12 MDAs fail to submit development plans to NDPC

Some 12 out of the 48 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have failed to submit their 2023 development plans to guide effective implementation, eight months into the year.

The Director General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Kodjo Essiem Mensah-Abrampa, said on the side-lines of a stakeholder workshop in Accra.

The workshop, which was on statistical data collection and management for effective coordination and joint implementation of development plans, was attended by Directors and other officials of various MDAs.

The Director General did not disclose the names of the MDAs that had failed to submit their development plans, but indicated that their names had been sent to the Chief of Staff for action.

MDAs are required to submit their Medium-Term Development Plans (MTDPs) to the NDPC for consideration and approval, which were to be based on the country’s national development goals and guidelines for the preparation of MTDPs issued by the Commission.

Non compliance could mean that the MDAs were obtaining resources and making expenditures without informing the Commission, Parliament and Office of the President, Mensah-Abrampa said.

“NDPC, is made of 49 wise people with experience so, if you can’t submit your plan to them to look at, give you advice and send it to the Office of the President, then to Parliament for approval, I don’t think you are entitled to a budget,” he said.

On the rationale for the workshop, he said it was borne out of an observation on the lack of use of data and information in the selection, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development policies and projects.

It was also to help in the use of data to facilitate coordination among various MDAs as well as developing policies in response to the problems that the country faced.

The Director General encouraged MDAs to effectively coordinate in the collection and management of statistical data to ensure harmony and avoid the waste of resources.

Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, the Government Statistician, called for increase in investment in data for the purpose of integration and interoperability as MDAS continued to digitise their data systems.

He encouraged MDAs to have robust systems for effective management of data so that the country would not miss out harnessing global data.