Former United Nations Governance Advisor, Prof. Baffour Agyeman-Duah, has voiced serious concerns over Ghana’s ongoing struggle with a disjointed national development approach.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, he criticized the frequent replacement of government appointees and the reliance on individual party manifestos rather than a collectively endorsed national vision. According to the professor, the absence of a unified plan is a major stumbling block, leading to a development process that seems perpetually stalled.
Prof. Agyeman-Duah recalled efforts made during previous administrations, notably a commendable document produced under the NDC government by Dr. Nii Thompson and Prof. Kwasi Botwe. “We could have reviewed or refined it and accepted it as a national plan,” he noted, lamenting that successive governments have instead chosen to govern solely on their own platforms. This cycle of political change, he argued, is at the heart of why critical projects are often left unfinished or abandoned altogether.
His remarks highlight a broader issue familiar to many observers of Ghana’s development trajectory—without a shared, long-term strategy, progress is continually disrupted by political transitions and short-term thinking. The professor’s critique underscores a pressing need for a comprehensive, bipartisan development strategy that can guide the nation forward, ensuring that all sectors of society benefit from coherent and sustained progress. Critics say that until Ghana can rally around a common vision, the promise of robust development will remain out of reach, and the cycle of stalled projects will continue to impede real transformation.
