The Director-General of the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA), Stephen Asamoah Boateng, has stated that the Akufo-Addo administration has worked hard to ensure public entities become competitive in service delivery and employment creation.
According to him, when he was appointed to the executive chair of the State Enterprises Commission at the time, he realized the place was rundown with the building like a prison yard and inadequate staff capacity.
He noted that he set out to look at the law and how to bring the State Enterprises Commission (SEC) and the Divestiture Implementation Commission (DIC) together.
He averred that he solicited the guidance of some members of Parliament and with the support of President Akufo-Addo, these two entities merged under a new law that gives the shareholding responsibility to SIGA.
Speaking on GTV’s Breakfast show on Wednesday on the government’s policy direction on State-Owned Enterprises and issues of financial reporting, he noted that public enterprises had been more of a political tool since their establishment during the Kwame Nkrumah era and therefore attention had not focused on their operational performance.
He observed that the challenge faced by these entities have been the nonchalant attitude of Ghanaians, which has not helped establish the sector as a viable going concern.
According to him, people joined these state enterprises not with the attitude of helping to develop them but what they can personally gain from such entities.
The idea of the establishment, he said, was brilliant because it was not only intended to make them profitable but also to create employment and to aid development of the country.
Mr. Asamoah Boateng observed that the state enterprises, however, went in different directions depending on the government at the time without a really firm authority on how they are operated.
He stated that since being appointed and the law promulgated, performance contracts have been signed with the entities and targets have been set to ensure the capital that the government invests can be accounted for.
“I set out this performance contract signing ceremony, which has to do with self-assessment of the entities. So they come up with a strategy, and of course, backed by their budget.”
“And then in the budget, they have to show why the state is spending this money and on what, then the whole recycle of the financial reporting comes into play,” he said.
Explaining the lamentations of the Finance Minister that some SOEs have not submitted their financial reports for some periods, Mr. Asamoah Boateng admitted there are indeed outstanding financial statements and those who have not conformed to the law.
He indicated that when he took over there were about 85 SOEs that have not submitted their 2012 financial statements.
He stated that he was compelled to cancel an awards ceremony being organized because he did not see a reason for that wastage especially when there was proof they have not prepared their financial statements.
He said, “The point is that we expect a return on the capital invested as a state. Where is the return on the capital and what have you been doing,” he quizzed?
He disclosed that SIGA has invested heavily in IT technology and introduced online monitoring to make sure problems are exposed while they occur and not wait for quarterly reports to detect them.
“We now have a smart work environment at SIGA. We are almost paperless and we have created a portal for them so I don’t have to wait for the quarterly reports to notice a red flag,” he said.
He noted that SIGA now has to drive the profit margins and make sure the state-owned companies recapitalization program succeeds for the benefit of Ghanaians.
Source: MyPublihser24.com/Osumanu Al-Hassan