Dr. Victor Abbey, a Strategic Thinking and Leadership Expert, has called for the elevation of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) into a full authority with stronger legal backing to drive Ghana’s long-term national development agenda beyond partisan political interests.

According to him, Ghana’s development efforts continued to suffer because successive governments subordinated national planning to short-term political and electoral considerations.

Speaking in a media interview, Dr Abbey said the country needed visionary and strategic leadership similar to that of the nation’s founding fathers, who pursued long-term national transformation rather than short-term political gains, adding that empowering the NDPC was also critical to delivering the country's long-term goals.

“In my understanding, I would have wished that the National Development Planning Commission had become an authority. But really, for all this time, it is the political will that will get them to that status.

“It has always been from one government to the other, and it is still the same because the partisan agenda seems to lead ahead of the national agenda,” he said.

Established under Articles 86 and 87 of the 1992 Constitution, the NDPC was formally created through the National Development Planning Commission Act, 1994 (Act 479), and the National Development Planning (System) Act, 1994 (Act 480).

The Commission is mandated to advise the President on development planning policy and strategy, prepare national development frameworks, coordinate development planning at all levels and monitor and evaluate government programmes.

The NDPC also serves as the coordinating body of Ghana’s decentralised development planning system and is expected to ensure balanced and sustainable national development.

Over the years, however, analysts and civil society groups have raised concerns about weak implementation of development plans, inadequate political support and frequent policy discontinuities following changes in government.

Dr Abbey, a retired military officer and leadership consultant, attributed many of Ghana’s governance and development challenges to what he described as the erosion of ethical values, institutional weaknesses and excessive politicisation of national issues.

For instance, he said, although Ghana had developed long-term frameworks such as Vision 2020 and Vision 2057, implementation was weak due to the lack of sustained political commitment.

“As we speak, how many of our people are aware of the contents of Vision 2057? The document is there, but it is sitting on the shelves,” he said.

While calling for stronger authority for the NDPC, Dr Abbey stressed the need for genuine commitment from political leaders to allow state institutions to function independently.

“It is not just mere conversion into an authority that will determine its (NDPC) effectiveness. It is about the political will to allow institutions to work,” he noted.

Dr Abbey also called for visionary leaders, arguing that Ghana’s founding leaders, including Kwame Nkrumah, were not merely politicians but strategic visionaries who pursued transformational agendas after independence.

He contrasted that era with the current political environment, which he described as “election-centred” and driven largely by self-interest rather than national development.

“They did not treat independence as an event. They had a transformation agenda. They institutionalised systems, infrastructure, educational frameworks and governance structures for the long term,” Dr Abbey said.

He proposed deliberate leadership training and values-based education from the primary school level to help develop future leaders with integrity, patriotism, and strategic thinking.

“Leadership is not about position or self-aggrandisement. It is about responsibility and acting in the interest of generations to come,” he stressed.