The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has launched a nationwide review of the guidelines used by Regional Planning Coordinating Units (RPCUs) and District Planning Coordinating Units (DPCUs), nearly two decades after the current framework was introduced.
The exercise is aimed at updating the guidelines to reflect changes in Ghana’s institutional, legal and technological environment and improve the way development planning is coordinated at the regional and district levels.
Supported by GIZ’s PAIRed programme, the review involves consultations with officials directly responsible for development planning to identify gaps in the existing guidelines and recommend practical improvements in planning, coordination, monitoring and reporting.
The current guidelines were developed in 2004.
Chief Director of the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council, Rev. Harry Nii Kwatei Owoo, said developments in Ghana’s governance and public administration over the years had made a comprehensive review necessary.
He pointed to changes in the legal and institutional framework, planning and budgeting procedures, monitoring requirements and the increasing use of digital systems across public institutions.
Speaking at the Greater Accra engagement on Tuesday, October 6, Rev. Owoo urged participants to use their practical experience to highlight weaknesses in the existing guidelines and propose measures that would make the revised framework more effective.
NDPC Director-General Dr Audrey Smock Amoah said the review must reflect the realities faced by officials working within the decentralised planning system.
She said the exercise offers an opportunity to bring the guidelines in line with current institutional arrangements, planning requirements and technological developments, while addressing challenges that have affected their implementation.
Dr Amoah also stressed the importance of timely preparation and submission of development plans and annual progress reports by regional and district authorities.
She warned that delays at the decentralised level could affect the quality and timeliness of national development planning, monitoring and reporting.
The nationwide consultations began on October 5 with engagements in the Upper East and Central Regions, with Greater Accra hosting the second day of the exercise.
The consultations will continue in other parts of the country, with feedback from stakeholders expected to inform the final revised RPCU and DPCU guidelines.
The process is being supported by GIZ’s PAIRed programme, commissioned by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-financed by the European Union in Ghana and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and implemented by GIZ in partnership with the Ministry of Finance.
