President John Dramani Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has warned that the government will no longer continue to absorb persistent financial losses incurred by State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), urging their boards and management teams to improve efficiency, accountability and profitability.
He said the government has rearranged its relationship with state-owned enterprises and would demand greater value from institutions entrusted with managing public assets.
President Mahama made the remarks at a conference organised by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel.
According to him, the continued dependence of SOEs on government financial support placed an unnecessary burden on the national budget and could no longer be allowed to continue without clear evidence of improved performance.
“Persistent losses will no longer be quietly absorbed into the national budget,” President Mahama said.
He stressed that leadership positions within state-owned enterprises must be tied to measurable performance, value creation and profitability.
The President reminded boards, chief executives and management teams of SOEs that the assets under their control were public assets and ultimately belonged to the people of Ghana.
He cited the country’s ports, power infrastructure, factories, water systems, pension funds, lands, buildings, equipment and government-owned shares as examples of assets being held in trust on behalf of Ghanaians.
“These assets do not belong to any government, a board, or a chief executive. They belong to the people of Ghana, and you and I hold them only in trust for the people,” he pointed out.
President Mahama said the central principle guiding the conference was that public ownership must translate into public value.
He therefore challenged every institution represented at the gathering to demonstrate, with credible evidence, the value it had created for the Ghanaian people.
He said the new approach was intended to ensure that state-owned institutions operated with a stronger sense of responsibility and delivered results that justified the resources and assets placed under their management.
He urged the leadership of SOEs to embrace greater efficiency and accountability, insisting that public institutions must be managed in a manner that protects and grows the value of assets belonging to Ghanaians.
By Vera Owusu Sarpong