President John Dramani Mahama has boldly declared that the era of impunity, mediocrity, and financial recklessness by State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) ends today.
According to John Mahama, he is going to assess his CEOs based on their performance and they will be sacked if they do not align with the pace of the reset agenda.
John Mahama consequently warned that loss-making SOEs would no longer be tolerated and would either be merged, privatised, or closed.
Speaking at a meeting with CEOs of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, John Mahama stated, “I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he stated, warning that “the era of impunity, mediocrity, and financial recklessness must end today.”
John Mahama further added, “This meeting reaffirms my commitment to shaking up loss-making SOEs and realigning them to break even and transition into profitability. My 2024 campaign promises and the 120-day social contract with the people of Ghana were not mere rhetoric,”
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation.
Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he added.
Meanwhile, Cassiel Ato Forson, the Finance Minister has shockingly revealed all State Owned Enterprises are at significant operational and financial risk.
According to Ato Forson, from ECG to the ADB almost all State Owned Enterprises are in red.
He asserted the dire financial situation of these entities and added the need for urgent restructuring.
Speaking at the National Economic Dialogue on Monday, March 3, Dr. Forson detailed, “SOEs and joint venture company showing mountain operational and financial risk. Almost all state-owned enterprises are in the red. From ECG to the ADB, almost all of them are in the red,”
“In fact, beginning from the year 2021, 2022, and 2023, you will see that COCOBOD polled some profit of GHS2.2 billion in the year 2023. This is artificial profit”, he added.
Ato Forson added, “This profit is because they failed to service their debt because of the debt suspension…This debt still exists and so we will need to take action to restructure most of the SOEs”.
