Leadership of Ghana Institute of Planners (GIP) paid a working visit to the Governance Office of the GIZ in Labone, Accra. The purpose of the meeting was to show appreciation of the Institute to GIZ for their support towards the successful celebration of the 51st Annual Conference and General Meeting of the Institute in November 2022 in Cape Coast. The occasion was also used to present a citation to Mr. Raphael Victor Frerking, the Programme Manager of Governance for Inclusive Development (GovID), for his contribution to the advancement of local governance and decentralized planning in Ghana.
The delegation from GIP was led by Pln. Mohammed Alhassan Damba (FGIP), President of the Institute. Other members of the delegation were Pln. Percy Anaab Bukari (FGIP), First Vice President, Pln. Kenneth Yaoh Ketor, the Honorary Secretary and Mr. Maxwell Bentil, the Administrator. Present at the meeting with Mr. Frerking on the side of GIZ were Mr. Alf Bremer, IGF Component Manager and Pln. John Simplicity Dogbey, Advisor.
The President expressed appreciation to GIZ for their sponsorship support as well as presentation of the keynote address at the conference. He called for the extension and strengthening of this collaboration to cover other areas such as capacity building for GIP members, research and integrated community based planning.
On his part, Mr. Frerking thanked the Institute for the honour of keynote speakership at the event. He indicated that professional bodies play a key role in setting standards for practitioners to apply, and encouraged GIP to do more in reviewing the numerous obsolete planning standards currently being used in Ghana. According to Mr. Frerking, this is one of the surest wasy to ensure effective urban functionality in Ghana. He expressed the willingness of the GIZ to collaborate with the Institute to promote planning practice in ways that will deliver development to the large majority of Ghanaians.
The two parties agreed to continue dialoguing in the areas of research, improvement in planning standards and capacity building for effective decentralized planning in Ghana.
Friday, January 13, 2023, Accra.
