President Akufo-Addo has cautioned heads and Managements of State-Owned Enterprises that delays in the preparation and publication of state ownership reports which allow the government and the general public to access information on the performance of public enterprises, will no longer be tolerated.
The president has thus, directed all board chairpersons, heads of state entities, and Management teams to ensure, they comply fully with the submission requirements set out by the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) henceforth.
President Akufo-Addo gave the directive at the 2024 Annual Policy and Governance Forum in Accra on April 23, 2024.
“The 2023 SOR is the first to be published under the “Public Management of Service Delivery Programme,” and it is expected to be completed on or before 31 August 2024. Failure to achieve this target will affect adversely the terms of our financial arrangement with the World Bank,” President Akufo-Addo said.
The forum was used to launch the Code of Corporate Governance for Specified Entities and Public Service Organizations in Ghana. The code is intended to provide guidance and transform the corporate governance practices in the Specified Entities and Public Service Organizations, collectively, referred to as Public Organisations.
President Akufo-Addo said timely compliance with the state ownership Report requirement of SIGA by state entities will help prevent delayed reporting which could negatively affect the terms of the country’s financial arrangement with the World Bank.
The Director-General of SIGA, John Boadu, Deputy Minister for Finance, Dr Stephen Amoah, the Minister for Public Sector Reforms, Samuel Cudjoe, and the Board Chairman of the Public Service Commission Prof. Victor Kwame Agyeman, pledged to work hand in hand to ensure that the code of corporate governance for specific entities and Public Service Organizations in Ghana is first adopted by all state entities and fully implemented by all institutions that are bound by its provisions.
A World Bank assessment in 2015, identified the major causes of the poor performance of public organisations (POs) to include weak corporate governance and management, fragmentation of the oversight responsibility, political interference in their management and general mismanagement of these organisations.
By Nana Kwaku Aduah