The Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Nii Moi Thompson, has called for the rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence into Ghana’s planning framework.
Speaking at the regional consultative engagement with key stakeholders in the Eastern Region on Thursday, he stated that technology must now play a central role in how the government designs, monitors, and evaluates development programs.
“It will help to minimise the workload and expedite certain processes for us. I have used it myself to review and summarise district plans, and the results have been very useful,” he added.
He expressed confidence that once fully adopted at the Commission level, the technology would be extended to regional coordinating councils and district assemblies to improve efficiency across the country.
Dr Thompson also turned attention to governance standards and maintenance culture and said development should not be measured only by the number of new projects executed, but also by how well existing infrastructure is preserved.
Drawing on the broken windows theory, he warned that neglecting minor defects often leads to broader decline.
“The second you see this, you are supposed to prevent it,” he said, referring to road encroachment, erosion in school compounds and damaged pavements. “If we ignore small issues, we end up spending more public funds fixing bigger problems later.”
On her part, the Director General of the National Development Planning Commission, Dr Audrey Smock Amoah, presented updates on plan preparation, Annual Progress Reports and the Regional Integrated Plan.
She stated that adherence to compliance and performance standards, along with reference to Legislative Instrument 2232, will guide the preparation of Annual Progress Reports
Dr Amoah commended the Eastern Region for its performance, noting that most of the Annual Progress Reports submitted last year were rated excellent, very good or good. She, however, cautioned that strong rankings must reflect tangible results on the ground.
“We want to get to a point where, apart from the rankings, when we step into the districts or the regions, we see actual development,” she said.
Joyce Adwoa Animia Ocran, ISD
