Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Isaac Bannerman Nii Moi Thompson, says Ghana’s development challenges are less about time and more about leadership efficiency and how institutions respond to direction from the top.
Joining Moro Awudu on Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV on Thursday, January 15, 2026, Dr Nii Moi Thompson said his experience at the NDPC shows that effective leadership can dramatically speed up government work without changing constitutional timelines.
“We completed the President’s Coordinated Programme in six months,” he said. “The previous one took 23 months.”
According to him, the difference was not a change in mandate or process, but timely decision-making and responsiveness from the Presidency.
Dr Nii Moi Thompson recounted how issues that had stalled the Commission for years were resolved quickly once leadership engaged directly.
“I decided to sneak in a letter,” he said, explaining that he expected a response after a week because the President was travelling.
“You know how long it took for him to respond? Two days,” he disclosed.
He said President Mahama’s response set off a chain reaction that unlocked long-standing bottlenecks.
“Problems that the Commission had faced for years were solved in less than a week,” he said.
He shared a similar experience with the Chief of Staff, noting that feedback often came within a day.
“You send him a letter. The next day, ‘I worked on your letter yesterday,’” Dr Thompson said.
For Dr Nii Moi Thompson, these examples point to a broader lesson about development and productivity.
“Leadership and its ability to utilise scarce resources is the heart of economic development,” he said.
He argued that when leaders respond quickly and decisively, institutions function better and public resources are used more efficiently.
This, he said, explains why extending presidential terms is not a substitute for competent leadership.
Dr Nii Moi Thompson stressed that while leadership at the top matters, it must translate into functioning systems across government.
“The Director General is in charge of the technical and administrative activities of the Commission,” he explained, describing the NDPC as a “working commission” rather than a ceremonial body.
He noted that Commissioners are actively involved in policy work, including development frameworks and planning alignment, rather than meeting occasionally like a traditional board.
Dr Thompson said Ghana’s development debate should focus less on constitutional timelines and more on how leaders and institutions perform within the time they already have.
“When you talk about productivity, that is it,” he said. “To get the most out of the least amount of effort.”
Until that mindset takes hold, he warned, changing term lengths or structures would do little to improve outcomes.
