Accra: Mr Julius Debrah, Chief of Staff at the Presidency, has on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama, inaugurated a nine-member Board for the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA). The new Board, chaired by legal practitioner Madam Nancy Dakwa Ampofo, is tasked with leading the organisation's strategy and mandate to oversee and administer the State's interests in Specified Entities.
According to Ghana News Agency, the Board members include Mr Osei Opoku, Mr Anthony Selom Dzadra, Mr Kwadwo Brentuo Mpeani, Mr Peter Osei Asamoah, Prof. Michael Kpessa-Whyte (Director General), Mr Richard Kwame Siaw, Dr. Emefa Aku Ansah, and Madam Vida Addae. Mr Debrah, emphasising the role of SIGA, urged the new Board to consolidate SIGA's gains, strengthen institutional reforms, and provide strategic leadership. He highlighted SIGA's critical role in ensuring accountability, transparency, and improved performance of Specified Entities.
Madam Ampofo, the Board Chair, expressed her commitment to align SIGA's work with government priorities. In June this year, Prof. Kpessa-Whyte stated that entities failing to adhere to performance contracts would face sanctions. This declaration, made during a high-level meeting, underscored the weak commitment to performance contracts by some State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), Joint Ventures, and Other State Entities.
Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of SOEs and Joint Ventures had been briefed on the modalities of performance contracts and the consequences of non-compliance. The key variables of these contracts include Efficiency and Productivity, Management Improvement, Project Implementation, and Economic and Financial Positions. Prof. Kpessa-Whyte noted that sanctions for non-compliance could include dismissal, public naming and shaming of entity heads, and the dissolution of boards.
'We can publish the names of entities that have demonstrated a weak culture towards signing performance contracts or have signed performance contracts but are not enforcing them religiously or are not using them religiously to guide their operations,' he stated. At the same meeting, it emerged that about 100 SOEs had complied with the President's directive of providing audited accounts to SIGA.