The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has ordered all state enterprises to urgently submit their mandatory annual reports to the State Interest and Governance Agency (SIGA), not later than May 15, 2024.
The President, in furtherance of the order, has instructed the Director General of SIGA to furnish him with a list of all public entities that do not comply with the order by May 31, 2024.
President Akufo-Addo gave these unambiguous orders on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at the Kempinski Hotel, Accra, at the annual policy and governance forum 2024.
He argued that the report, which entails the financial statements of the public entities, is central to the preparation of the annual State Ownership Report (SOR) by SIGA.
He said, “These financial statements are central to the preparation of the SOR and board chairs of all specified entities in the cabinet-approved list of entities are expected to submit the audited accounts and financial statements to SIGA by May 15, 2024.
“As a follow-up to this directive, I expect the Director General of SIGA to furnish me with the list of all specified entities that have not complied with this directive by May 31, 2024,” the President added.
DELAYS
According to the President, the preparations and publications of the State Ownership Report always suffer delays due to a litany of constraints.
He mentioned that, key among the factors that cause the delay is non-compliance by public entities with the submission of financial statements.
The President cited that the 2020 SOR was published in March 2022 and that of 2021 was out in January 2024 this year, with the 2022 SOR now in the final stages of completion.
“We should not tolerate these delays any further. All board chairs, entities and management teams are hereby instructed to comply fully with the submission requirement from SIGA,” he added.
The Public Financial Management Act mandates the submission of audited financial statements of specified entities by the end of April, each year.
SOR
He explained that the SOR enforcement was part of the government’s measures to enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public enterprises.
The measures are to ensure that the public enterprises deliver on their mandate and contribute to the national economy.
In furtherance of that, SIGA is mandated to prepare the SOR, which serves, among others, as the accountability and transparency document.
The SOR provides the government and the public with access to information on the financial and non-financial performances of public enterprises.
This year’s Policy and Governance Forum was convened under the theme “Maximising Benefits from State Ownership through Effective Corporate Governance.”
ACHIEVEMENT
The Minister for Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe, mentioned that the ministry was very close to achieving effective management of public enterprises.
“We have so far achieved a very high level of transparency and accountability through audited financial and operating performance reporting of the public enterprises. We have also been able to provide the necessary audited financial reports to the Parliamentary Select Committee responsible for State Enterprises to enhance their oversight,” he said.
The Public Enterprise Ministry, in furtherance of these achievements, launched two policies yesterday, which the Minister said are of critical importance to the governance and management of the portfolio of public enterprises.
President Akufo-Addo, together with Minister Joseph Cudjoe and the Director General of SIGA, John Boadu, launched the State Ownership Policy for Specified Entities and the Code of Corporate Governance for Specified Entities and Public Sector Organisations documents.
The SIGA boss, John Boadu, deputy Minister for Finance, Stephen Amoah and others also spoke at the opening of the policy and governance forum 2024.
