Adopt “finish-to-start” policy to salvage stalled, abandoned national projects – experts

By Kingsley Webora TANKEH

Project management experts have urged an overhaul of how national projects are managed in Ghana. The experts unveiled a 10-point resolution at the 2025 National Project Management Conference, calling for government to adopt “Finish-to-Start” policy backed by the establishment of a National Project Completion Fund (NPCF)

This ring-fenced fund would require that stalled or abandoned projects be prioritised and completed before new ones are initiated, ensuring existing investments deliver value.

In a communiqué released after the Conference, the experts expressed their commitment to national development.

“We commit to transforming project management into a cornerstone of national development where every cedi spent delivers value, and every project completed becomes a symbol of national pride and trust in governance,” the communiqué stated.

Passionate about protecting the long-term development of the country, the experts made a direct plea to politicians to end the partisan “culture of discarding or altering strategic projects with political transitions”.

The experts call on Parliament to pass the proposed Project Management Act at the earliest to provide the legal foundation for project continuity and delivery, ensuring that “no viable national project is abandoned” unless an independent technical audit deems it necessary.

They further admonished government to establish an independent authority to oversee all public projects, manage a National Project Register and assign certified project manager to lead the execution of all national projects. To them, the establishment of National Project Delivery and Accountability Authority (NPDAA) will ensure transparency, reduce duplications and improve citizen engagement.

The experts also advocated for the adoption of the Ghana Integrated Project Management Framework (GIPMF) as the mandatory gold standard across all sectors, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), aligning them with the Public Financial Management Act to control costs.

The experts urged “government, private sector, professional bodies and development partners to collaborate in advancing a new era of project excellence, value-for-money and national transformation”.

In the wake of the havoc illegal mining (galamsey) wreaked on Ghana, following the helicopter crash that plunged the whole nation into morning, the experts lended a voice to the fight against galamsey, urging government to declare illegal mining (galamsey) a “national development risk”. They demand that combating menace become a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for District Chief Executives (DCEs) and Police Commanders in galamsey-prone areas.

This links the performance of these prominent figures to environmental protection and project integrity, promoting environmental stewardship.

8 patriots, including two cabinet ministers and a deputy national security coordinator, perished in a helicopter crash on August 6 en route to launch the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP), an initiative designed to transform Ghana’s artisanal and small-scale mining sector.

The scourge of galamsey has devastated the environment and threatened vital national resources like water bodies and farmland. The communiqué stated that this accountability measure will put the executives and law enforcement agencies on their toes and ensure that local authorities are directly responsible for preserving the environment. This, according to them, will help protect public investments and foster a culture of enforcement, responsibility and long-term national value.

Public trust has been eroded over the years by financial malfeasance and  procurement issues which have left countless infrastructure and development projects scattered across the country either stalled or abandoned. These are often linked to neglect after a change in the political tide or mismanagement. This comprehensive 10-point plan proposes a concrete pathway to tackle these systemic issues head-on, promoting accountability and transparency in executing national projects.

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