Professor Michael Kpessa-Whyte, Director-General, State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), has disclosed that over one hundred State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) have complied with the President’s directive to produce their audited accounts to SIGA.
This compliance comes against the backdrop of President John Dramani Mahama’s directive for SOEs to submit their audited accounts to SIGA.
The Director-General made these remarks at a high-level meeting on performance contracts with selected specified entities, held in Accra.
The meeting brought together key public officials from various state entities, with a spotlight on the urgent need for compliance with performance contracts and the implications of non-compliance.
This gathering followed a successful meeting between the Chief Executive Officers of SOEs and Joint Ventures and the President in March.
Chief Executive Officers of State Entities were taken through the modalities of the performance contracts and the implications of non-compliance.
Key variables of the performance contracts include efficiency and productivity, management improvement and project implementation, and economic and financial positions.
Professor Kpessa-Whyte stated, “A large majority of them, I don’t have the current figure, but a large majority of them, perhaps about 140-150, did comply.
"We had submitted a report to the Presidency because, if you recall, the President also stated that SIGA was given until the 14th of May to submit a report on the compliance of the entities. We had submitted that particular report to the Presidency.”
The Director General explained that some entities failed to comply with the directive due to delays in constituting their boards.
He said, “Some argued that at the time the deadline was approaching, their boards were not in place to even sign what you call audited accounts. Others also argued that their accounts were still with the auditors, and so they were quite confused as to what to do.”
He also highlighted the financial positions of the state enterprises, stressing that SOEs must fully adhere to the Public Financial Management Act by ensuring that they furnish their audited and management accounts annually to SIGA as stipulated in the Act.
The Director-General noted that a key priority for the Authority is the debt management strategies of SOEs, emphasising that SOEs must submit their requests to borrow to SIGA for overall assessment before they do so.
He asserted that adhering to performance contracts is crucial in addressing the debt challenges of state-owned enterprises.
He added, “If entities operate without a performance contract, the possibility that they will not have clear goals and the temptation to spend as though there is no tomorrow is very high.”
GNA