Mr. Darko is a development planner and a development consultant. He holds, among others, a Master of Science degree in Development Planning and Management. He has experience in development planning and research, institutional/strategic planning, as well as monitoring and evaluation, with particular reference to project implementation and design.

Mr. Darko is also very conversant with issues related to decentralization and water and sanitation planning in Ghana. He was the leader of the team of researchers that has been evaluating Newmont Akyem Mine’s community relations and their corporate social responsibility since 2014. He was the lead consultant for the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization evaluation of the Tongya Plantation Program—and a member of the team that prepared two manuals published by Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing/Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), for the training of District Assembly (DA) staff in district water and sanitation planning. The Manuals are:

  • Trainers’ guide for the preparation of district water and sanitation plans (DWSPs) and
  • Operational manual for planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation of water and environmental sanitation (April 2005).

Mr. Darko also has experience in local level capacity building and training. He was a member of the team that facilitated the preparation of District Water and Sanitation Plans (DWSP) and the reviews of these plans for all the districts in the Greater Accra, Eastern, Central and Volta Regions in Ghana with financial support from DANIDA (2003 – 2007). He has conducted a number of evaluation exercises including the e-commerce and Renewable Energy Project (e-CARE) being implemented across the country by Ghana Telecom, KITE and the Ministry of Communications with financial support from UNEP, the District Support for Revenue Mobilization Project in the Central and western regions of Ghana by the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) and the project preparation study for the formulation of community-based rural development program, under contract assignment by MLGRD/VIP/World Bank, November/December, 2003.

Mr. Darko was also a co facilitator on the European Union/Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) sponsored Human Resource Development Workshop for District Planning and Budget Officers (2001-2003). He was a member of the Strategic Plan Implementation Steering Committee that designed monitoring and evaluation schemes for the implementation of the KNUST strategic Plan dubbed PLAN2K10. He has also facilitated the preparation of strategic plans encompassing monitoring and evaluations systems for three polytechnics in Ghana (i.e. Sunyani, Kumasi and Tamale).

Prior to his appointment as a lecturer of the Department of Planning, Mr. Oteng was a Project Evaluator at the Technology Consultancy Centre at KNUST (1989- 1991) and a Planning Officer and later Senior Planning Officer of the Planning Unit at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (1991-2002).