The NDC government should adopt strategies that would revisit to complete national projects started in their old administration but neglected by the just ended government.
Development should be a continuous responsibility by governments elected into power.
The NDC government should conduct a comprehensive audit of unfinished projects started in their old administration for completion as vowed by H.E Mahama, the president, during his campaign.
His government should establish a project review committee to assess the status of unfinished and abandoned projects across the various sectors (infrastructure, health, education, roads, etc.).
They should identify projects with the highest public demand and impact to prioritize completion.
There are needs for reallocating funds in the National Budget to ensure the continuation of the old project rather than commencing new ones, and could also seek alternative financing options such as Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) to assist prioritizing the completion of all those projects.
There are also needs for strengthening parliamentary and ministerial collective oversight responsibility and the use of public accountability measures to ensure satisfying social and economic demands over starting new ones unnecessarily.
Stakeholders and Local Communities engagement, particularly with traditional leaders, local assemblies, and community groups, to ensure projects align with their needs and expectations. The NDC government can establish citizens’ and corporate monitoring committees to track progress at sites and ensure projects are not abandoned by contractors.
Coupling development with political lines, government should strengthen the National Development Planning Commission to make long-term projects legally enforceable across political regimes and to develop a national project tracking system to prevent neglect after government changes.
Revisiting old projects is not just about political competition but for national development and public trust.
The NDC government can successfully complete all unfinished and abandoned projects of the just ended government.
Governments when proposing developmental activities need to know they are serving the interests of the country and the people, which, when leaving office with unfinished projects, must hand over to the supervision of the National Development Planning Commission to be continued by the succeding government for completion.
By: Richard Kumah-Don