“The old order changeth Yielding place to new” – King Arthur
If we did not know the goings on in the State Owned Enterprises, a lady CEO has given us an insight into one of them, the State Insurance Company. In her law suit at the court… It came out that she was earning a whopping sum of GH¢70,000.00 per month, plus a plethora of allowances all totaling almost GH¢100,000.00, call it one billion old cedis every month.
And we are being told that many of the State Owned Enterprises were/are running at a loss. What! Yet these loss-making companies pay their staff hefty sums of money at the end of each month. No, something should be done! Injustice, inequality…
Last week (Thursday: 13th March, 2025) the President, John Dramani Mahama instructed the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) to commission independent audits of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to identify inefficiencies and financial leakages, stressing, that the government will not sustain those enterprises that fail to deliver value to the state.
In a well-articulated, poignant speech, the President stated; “Loss making SOEs will no longer be tolerated. They will be swiftly reformed, merged, privatized or shut down… corruption, procurement fraud and financial mismanagement will be prosecuted strictly and boards that rubber-stamp poor decisions will be replaced… the practice of using entity resources and funds to indemnify board members from accountability must cease immediately.”
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson highlighted financial losses made by Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) GH¢5.96 billion in 2023; Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) GH¢3.8 billion in 2022; Graphic Communications Group Ltd GH¢3.04 million in 2021, GH¢4.43 million in 2022, GH¢15.18 million in 2023. The silver lining in the lightning were Tema Development Company, Ghana Reinsurance Company and State Housing Company making a modest profit of GH¢28.7 million.
Prof. Kpessa-Whyte, the Director-General of State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) noted: “The foundation of any high performing enterprise – whether public or private – is sound corporate governance… weak governance structures lead to inefficiencies, financial, mismanagement and ultimately, institutional failure.”
In a no-holds barred editorial on Friday, 14th of March 2025, The Chronicle noted emphatically: “Mr. President, Non-Performing Heads of SOEs Must Be Sacked!”
The editorial states: “It is an undeniable fact that both President Mahama and his Finance Minister have hit the nail right on the head, as some of the SOEs are indeed performing poorly … one of them we dare say is the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) which has been in existence for years, but failing to properly perform its role in stimulating the growth of the national economy. Ghana has struck oil, but despite the existence of TOR, we are still importing finished petroleum produce at a huge cost to the state.
As the situation stands now, the state is paying huge sum of money in the form of emoluments to people purporting to be running TOR, when Ghanaians are not deriving maximum benefits from their operations… Such heads in our candid opinion, must be sacked without any consideration, as the President himself is threatening to do… interestingly “reset” is one of the pillars that has brought the President back to power. It is therefore, our hope that he would introduce this policy of reshuffling the heads of the SOE as we are suggesting in the best interest of the nation. Is the word “sack” not an anathema to us?
We are not easily carried away by slogans, and we get haunted by the hollow sloganeering that became the hall-mark of the previous government. Hence, we haltingly apply “reset” (reset agenda) to the brilliant move by this government. If it was a private company the failing SOEs would not allow the heads whose mismanagement has led to the failure to continue their damage and still continue their “rape” of the economy.
Comes in Commissioner of Police (COP) Christian Tetteh Yohuno as the new Inspector-General of Police in place of Dr. George Akuffo Dampare. There is no doubt that Yohuno is a “man of the people” and the video clip of his arrival at the Police headquarters after being sworn in tells it all. People falling over one another running towards him to shake hands with him, people showering cash … oh, no: that was over-dramatic, Security! No, that was an over-drive. Security! That was puerile. Security! If anyone thinks we are rather being “sensational” just let us wait for a few months and see the effect of all the adulations.
Cement manufacturers are substituting limestone, a key raw material in cement production which are cheaper and inferior alternatives! Quarry dust, clay, silica and other low grade substitutes? God almighty! Allahu akbar! Twieduampon Awurade Nyankopon! What are we expected to do with this information? No one to crack the whip?
Hon. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, the Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and lndustry is, no doubt, high class affable lady with great vim to handle the ministry. We are monitoring to see the action she will take with regard to this revelation.
Professor Mark Bediako, Deputy Director of the Building and Road Research, has been reported as saying the limestone as a five to 30 percent constituent was essential in cement production, providing the calcium oxide required for the chemical binding process… the alternatives did not only compromise the quality of the cement but also posed significant risks to the structural integrity of building and infrastructure…”
The report gives the lead: “When the Chinese came, they sited their factories in places far in the Ashanti Region which is far from the quarries of limestone so they look at transportation cost and resort to anything that resembles limestone… flood the market with low cost products, undercutting local manufacturers who adhered to strict quality standards….’
It is with profound gratitude that we learn that the minister, Hon. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare had authorized the Ghana Standard Authority under Professor Alex Dodoo to shut down cement production companies that produce substandard products.
Once in the ministry of Trade… let us whisper to the ear of the minister: take a look at the transit Trade; check whether the goods claimed to be in transit to Ghana and going to Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and cleared at the Tema Port all do go. You may confirm whether Customs does effective monitoring.
The hollow “see something, say something”. We shake our heads and explain Ghana foo nnye (Ghanaians are bad), but other foreigners are worse. By the way, the commodities that should attract the attention of the minister are fish, rice, cooking oil… Let us pause if Ghanaians had not reduced smoking, we would have added cigarettes. Do not say we knew something and kept you in the dark!
And Felix Addo clocks 70! Man, he is growing – no longer the “shmall boy” as the pantry man, Akosombo, would call him. We Old Vandals would add our voice to the Alumni of AIESEC to say: “Your wisdom, integrity and compassion have inspired countless individuals and institutions to excellence… Happy Birthday; So, on this very happy note, we pen off!
