The Director General of the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA), Stephen Asamoah Boateng, has expressed his disappointment towards the conduct of some CEOs of State-owned Enterprises (SoEs) who failed to show up for a stakeholder workshop.
He emphasized that despite the persistent efforts that his team put in, to invite CEOs, they failed to attend the meeting that aimed at designing a guideline for the corporate governance of State-owned Enterprises.
According to Mr. Boateng, about half of the expected participants were not present at the stakeholder engagement adding that, he will later enumerate the number of people that attended the meeting; including the ones that joined virtually.
“Those who have not been with us although they were invited; I’m sort of disappointed because this is such a crucial document that will impact on your entities and on your lives as CEO, as a Board Members and as Board Chairs.”
Invitations went out, my team has been calling and here we are about just a third or half. I know some of you are joining us virtually; I don’t know the number but I will do the count later on.”
Stephen Asamoah Boateng
The Director General of SIGA revealed that few of the distressing matters that, for the past years, have not been addressed in Ghana is: time consciousness and the citizens behavior towards work.
“My concern is that I’ve been around for so long in Ghana politics and in the economy so much that one of the things we fail to acknowledge is time management and the discipline of work.”
Stephen Asamoah Boateng
Mr. Boateng cautioned that, if for some reasons, the Chief Executive Officers of the State-owned Enterprises are unable to carry out the mandates that are incumbent upon them, they should vacate the offices immediately.
“If we’ve been entrusted to do a job, just put your brains to it, put your commitment to it and do it. If you cannot do it, ask permission and leave. Somebody is prepared to do the job.”
Stephen Asamoah Boateng
CEOs should pay attention to stakeholder engagements
The Director General of SIGA recalled previous instances where he consulted CEOs of State-owned Enterprises regarding the laws that established the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA). This, according to him, equally attracted little attention from CEOs.
Per Mr. Boateng’s statements, when draft of the SIGA establishment act was nearly to be passed by Parliament, the CEOs of the State-owned Enterprises became surprised when they observed the contents stating that it contained all the necessary information.
For this reason, Mr. Stephen Boateng underscored the importance of such stakeholder engagement since it will prevent surprises on the side of CEOs.
“If we take our jobs seriously and attend to these matters in a disciplined manner, we won’t be surprised about workshops like this; which is impacting on the job we do.”
Stephen Asamoah Boateng
Meanwhile, during the stakeholder engagement, a corporate governance expert, Michael Harry Yamson, advised that both Board Chairs and Board Members to devise strategic ways that will grant all individuals of concern the opportunity to share their sentiments as well as provide them with relevant and sufficient feedbacks.
“It is critical that the board ensures that all stakeholders are satisfied that they have the right amount of voice and that when they speak there’s a fair hearing and an adequate response.”
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