House urges adequate funding for NDPC
The Finance Committee of Parliament has called for adequate funding for the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) to enable it to effectively carry out its mandate.
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The commission was established under the constitution with a mandate to advise the President on development planning policies and strategies.
But the report of the Finance Committee on the 2014 budget estimate of the commission indicates that during 2013, commissioners of the NDPC met only once, as against the required six meetings a year as a result of inadequate resources.
Financial, staffing and logistical situations
The committee observed that while the NDPC's requirement for 2014 was GH¢17,345,122.00, a budgetary provision of only GH¢6,548,479, constituting 37.75 per cent, was made available .
The report, signed by the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Mr James Klutse Avedzi, observed that the commission had experienced a 27 per cent reduction in its 2014 allocation, as against the amount it was entitled to in 2013 (GH¢8,994,734).
"In view of the enormous task and responsibility assigned to the commission, the committee calls on the Ministry of Finance to ensure the allocation of adequate financial resources to enable the NDPC carry out its mandate."
The committee suggested that the problems confronting the commission should be considered in a holistic manner to ensure that adequate financial resources were made available to enable it perform its core mandate of national development.
For instance, the committee observed that even though the commission's work involved travelling to provide technical services to the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, available vehicles to facilitate the performance of these duties were overaged and, thus, broke down frequently.
As a result of logical constraints, the NDPC could not hire the required human resources to enable it to perform its functions adequately.
Even though the commission requires 52 technical staff to execute its mandate, it currently has only 15, and the committee warned that if the situation was not corrected, operations of the commission could halt in the near future.
The House, approved the GH¢6,548,479.00 allocated to the commission for 2014.
Approvals for other ministries and commissions
The House also approved GH¢153,953,029 allocated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, GH¢100,120,293 to the Ministry of Information and Media Relations and GH¢2,378,174 for the National Labour Commission.