The proposed Project Management Act is crucial for both national growth and project continuity, according to stakeholders at the 2025 National Project Management Conference, who have urged the government and Parliament to take it into consideration.
According to the decision, which was part of a ten-point communiqué released at the conclusion of the July 25 conference at Aqua Safari Resort, the Act “will provide a legal backbone for project continuity, ensuring that no viable national project is abandoned except by independent technical audit.”
This request is made in light of the nation’s rising public sector project stalling or abandonment rate, which has sparked concerns about planning, institutional memory, and budgetary restraint in the process of national growth.
The statement emphasized the necessity of structural reforms to professionalize project delivery and safeguard public investments from political disruptions.
It was signed by Frank Owusu-Asamoah, President of the Project Management Institute (PMI), which organized the aforementioned conference.
“The culture of discarding or altering strategic projects with political transitions must end. National projects must be protected from partisanship to preserve Ghana’s development agenda,” the statement read.
President John Mahama said during the 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA) that at least 55 national projects had been delayed and would cost over GH¢15 billion to finish.
The communiqué listed a number of complementary proposals in addition to legislative reform, such as the creation of an independent National Project Delivery & Accountability Authority to “oversee the lifecycle of all public projects and manage a National Project Register accessible to the public.”
In order to prioritize and finance stalled or abandoned national projects before new ones are started, the proposed Act would also promote a Finish-to-Start strategy, which would be supported by a special National Project Completion Fund.
According to the communiqué, “This fund will anchor a Finish-to-Start policy, ensuring that existing projects are completed and deliver value before the initiation of new ones.”
These suggestions are a part of a larger plan to make project management “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,” as the communiqué puts it.
A call to require all public sector initiatives to hire certified project management practitioners was part of the declaration.
“We recommend that all public projects be led by certified project management practitioners to safeguard quality, efficiency, and ethical execution across all sectors,” the communiqué stated.
Adoption of the Ghana Integrated Project Management Framework (GIPMF) as a national standard was also promoted at the meeting. The GIPMF was created by Ghanaian specialists and was characterized as a tool for “project governance, delivery, sustainability, and monitoring.”
Additionally, delegates suggested that in order to “ensure budget discipline and eliminate cost overruns,” the framework be fully incorporated into the operational systems of all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and aligned with the Public Financial Management Act.
Participants demanded the implementation of public dashboards for all government projects and the institutionalization of Earned Value Management (EVM) in order to increase transparency and real-time performance tracking.
The communiqué stated, “We call for mandatory implementation of Earned Value Management (EVM) and real-time public dashboards on all government projects to improve transparency, performance monitoring, and accountability.”
Another important area of concern was gender inclusion. The Women in Project Management Framework, which was created in partnership with PMI Ghana, should be formally adopted, according to the communiqué. It established a standard that certified and competent women hold at least 30% of project leadership positions in public sector initiatives.
It also covered the dangers that illegal mining poses to the environment and to development.
It suggested that efforts to stop illegal mining be legally monitored as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for District Chief Executives (DCEs) and Police Commanders in regions susceptible to galamsey, and it urged the government to “declare galamsey a national development risk.”
It pointed out that doing so would make it easier to guarantee that local governments bear direct accountability for safeguarding public investments, maintaining environmental assets, and promoting an enforcement-, accountability-, and long-term national value culture.
In order to promote a new era of project excellence, value for money, and national transformation, the statement included a collective pledge from the participants, reaffirming their commitment to the resolutions and calling for cooperation across the public and private sectors, professional associations, and development partners.
Source: newsthemegh.com