The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has begun a nationwide review of the guidelines governing Regional Planning Coordinating Units (RPCUs) and District Planning Coordinating Units (DPCUs), as part of efforts to align decentralised development planning with current institutional and technological realities.
The review, supported by GIZ’s PAIRed programme, is examining the existing guidelines and gathering input from officials responsible for development planning at the regional and district levels.
The consultations are expected to identify implementation gaps and generate practical recommendations for improving planning, coordination, monitoring and reporting.
The existing guidelines were developed in 2004, and Chief Director of the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council, Rev. Harry Nii Kwatei Owoo, said significant changes since then had made an update necessary.
He cited developments in the legal and institutional framework, planning and budgeting processes, monitoring requirements and the growing use of digital systems in public administration.
Speaking at the Greater Accra engagement on Tuesday, October 6, Rev. Owoo urged participants to draw on their experiences to identify gaps in the current guidelines and propose measures that would make the revised document more responsive to the realities of regional and district planning.
NDPC Director-General Dr Audrey Smock Amoah said the review must be grounded in the practical experiences of officials working within the decentralised planning system.
She said it provides an opportunity to align the guidelines with current institutional arrangements, planning requirements and technological developments, while addressing challenges affecting their implementation.
Dr Amoah also stressed the need for regional and district authorities to prepare and submit development plans and annual progress reports on time, warning that delays at those levels can affect 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 forming part of the second day of the exercise.
The consultations will continue across the country, with stakeholder feedback expected to inform the finalisation of the revised RPCU and DPCU guidelines.
The process is being supported by GIZ’s PAIRed programme, an initiative 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.
