The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, says government will not hesitate to sell off state-owned enterprises that consistently fail to churn out profit.

Speaking at a 2020 performance contract signing ceremony between managers of SOEs and the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), Dr. Bawumia said while the government recognizes the challenges some SOEs face, others simply remain inefficient and it will not be out of place to privatize such entities.

“The government is committed to taking strategic steps to fix these challenges and restore confidence in our State Entities. But for those entities which have proven to be inefficient, government as the shareholders may decide to either invite private sector participation or put them out for an outright sale,” Dr. Bawumia said.

Sanctions

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia further asked the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), to sanction managers who fail to operate in line with laid down procedures to churn out profits.

According to him, this will also help address issues of under-performance of state institutions and make them profitable.

This comes on the back of a performance review for state enterprises in 2019.

“We have noted with gratitude the sacrifice and good work some of you are doing. We also noted during the 2020 performance contract negotiations some fiscal indiscipline of some of the entities. SIGA has been directed to invoke the necessary articles in the law.”

“How can a State Entity whose core function is to buy and sell a commodity that has a ready market and earn a commission, run into debts of hundreds of millions of Ghana cedis? Either someone doesn’t care or that we run these State Entities with private agendas,” the Vice President said.

SIGA was established in 2019 by an Act of Parliament to put state-owned enterprises and joint venture corporations on the path of profit-making.

Among other things, the Authority which took over the role of the then State Enterprises Commission works to increase profitability within the framework of government policy.

It also exists to introduce effective measures that promote the socio-economic growth of the country, including in particular, agriculture, industry and services in accordance with their core mandates.

Source: Citinewsroom.com