After talks in Japan, the NPP flagbearer urged all political parties to sign up to multi-decade plans for coastal protection, flood control and transport.

Published 8 Nov 2026, 19:48 GMT

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New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has called on Ghana's political parties to sign binding, long-term national masterplans so major infrastructure projects are not abandoned when governments change.

Bawumia made the proposal at the conclusion of his formal engagements in Japan, where he met officials of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and engineering consultancies Nippon Koei, CTI Engineering and Oriental Consultants Global.

According to the former Vice-President, Japan's infrastructure delivery relies on multi-decade agreements that outlast individual administrations.

"Japan takes the long view. They build consensus around a plan and then commit to executing it over 30 years," Bawumia said.

"That is a major difference between Japan and Ghana," he added, arguing that the absence of cross-party blueprints leaves critical public works vulnerable to disruption at the end of every four-year electoral cycle.

Bawumia singled out coastal erosion, flood control and public transport as three priority sectors where political parties should formally endorse shared national plans rather than treating infrastructure as the partisan agenda of a single administration.

"Let us have agreed masterplans in areas such as coastal erosion, flood control, and public transport — and let all political parties sign up to them," he said.

"So that no matter who forms the government, the plan will be executed until it is completed," he added.

He said a formal cross-party commitment would prevent incoming governments from shelving unfinished works started by their predecessors and give engineering and financing partners long-term certainty.

Araba IncoomAraba Incoom writes on multiple topics with a vast knowledge across different sector. You can almost call me an AI, after all, my initials are Araba Incoom.

Bawumia calls for national masterplans binding successive governments

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