The Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) is leading a high level engagement towards building a national consensus on Ghana’s development path.

Successive governments in years past have managed the country based on party manifestoes, which according to ISODEC, do not often reflect the vision and position of Ghanaians.

The civil society group has observed that development projects are often abandoned because successive governments are not obliged to complete such projects.

Executive Director of ISODEC, Bishop Akolgo, says the development of a Social Pact has become critical for a shared national vision and long-term framework on economic governance.

He noted that the citizenry can use the Pact to hold politicians accountable “to work towards structural transformation and diversification of the national economy to deliver a higher quality of life”.

“They’ve misbehaved for too long. Now we need to put some restrictions on how much they can misbehave by defining clearly where we want to be in the next- 20-30 years and leaving them the flexibility and political competition to define how they’ll get us there”, Bishop told Luv Fm at the consultative workshop in Kumasi.

The meeting is being attended by politicians, professional bodies, faith-based organizations, among other interest groups.

The workshop is expected to come out with recommendations in the planned establishment of a National Development Planning Commission.

“The idea is that the Commission should be the holder, the repository of this long term development path and then political parties can now consult with this body to obtain ideas about how to structure their program which they may call a manifesto”, stated the Bishop Akolgo.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh