Former Finance Minister, Dr. Kwesi Botchwey, has been nominated by President John Mahama to take over from the late Ing. Paul Victor Obeng as Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).

The 69-year old P.V Obeng, died last May while driving off the Spintex Road near Tema . He was returning to Accra from a National Economic Forum in Senchi.

His replacement, Dr. Botchwey was a key figure in former president Rawllings' administration where he served as a PNDC Secretary for Finance and became Minister for Finance and Economic Planning following the transition to constitutional rule in 1992.

He is Ghana’s longest serving finance minister and currently the Board Chairman of the Ghana National Gas Company.

Dr. Botchwey  will be working with the President's economic advisor Dr. Nii Moi Thompson who has also been appointed as Acting Director-General.

Nii Moi's move fulfills an expected shake-up at the Presidency after Mahama sent letters last July, to all his political appointees at the Presidency thanking them for their contributions to his government.