Broadcast journalist Charles Akrofi has renewed calls for Ghana to adopt a binding national development plan, arguing that the country's manifesto-driven system has undermined continuity in governance and stalled national development.

Making his submissions on Class 91.3 FM’s “A Piece of My Mind” segment of the morning show, sitting in for the regular host Kwame Dwomoh Agyemang, Mr Akrofi said his comments were prompted by a visit to the Eastern Region over the weekend where he saw an abandoned E-block school project constructed during the first administration of President John Mahama.

The sight, he said, raised questions about why governance in Ghana is not a continuous process in practice.

"We've gotten to a stage as a people and country where we need to prioritise our development," he said.

Further criticising the country's manifesto-driven political system, Mr Akrofi raised concerns over the culture where successive governments often focus on implementing their own campaign promises rather than continuing projects initiated by previous administrations.

"Perhaps it is important that we start or restart the conversation about having a national development plan.”

"Because we've seen situations where a certain project is started by a certain administration but because another political party is in office, they try to jettison it, they abandon it, they'll not complete it,” he said.

He added that governments are often reluctant to complete projects started by political opponents as they are unwilling to give them credit, leaving citizens to bear the consequences.

Mr Akrofi called for continuity in national development to be entrenched in the country’s constitution with clear sanctions for governments that abandon ongoing projects.

He traced the need for a national development plan back to Ghana's first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, suggesting that reviving the idea would honour his vision and advance the country's development.

"There's no development plan. It's the manifesto system, and at the end of the day if they're unable to do all of them, who holds them accountable? It becomes business as usual," he stated.

Charles Akrofi stressed that the current governance model emerged after Dr Nkrumah was overthrown and Ghana adopted democracy along with all the issues that have come with it.