State Enterprises Commission (SEC) to be restructured
The State Enterprises Commission (SEC) will, from September 2016, undergo a major restructuring exercise aimed at revamping it to meet current challenges in the management of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
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The restructuring process is an initiative of the Ministry of Finance under the direct supervision and management of the Public Investment Division of the ministry and would be undertaken with support from the World Bank.
As a prelude to the restructuring, the commission, which has not had a board since 1993, will have its board inaugurated soon.
The Executive Chairman of the SEC, Dr Camynta Baezie, announced this at the signing of the 2016 performance contract between the government and two SOEs, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the State Housing Company (SHC), in Accra yesterday.
No board for 13 years
Dr Baezie said the absence of a board for the SEC had accounted for its diminishing performance ability over the years.
The commission, he said, had had to mount pressure on the government for the constitution of a board, saying with satisfaction that President John Mahama had heeded the call and constituted a board that would be inaugurated soon.
In view of its handicap, he said, the signing of performance contracts with SOEs for this year had been placed on hold pending the revamping of its operations.
However, he said in spite of the temporary hold off, the GCAA and the SHS had braved the odds and submitted themselves for the signing of the performance contract.
New name and mandate
Dr Baezie disclosed that as part of the restructuring, the SEC would be given a new name and also have its functions enhanced in tandem with trending management processes and innovations.
He said the institutional challenges of the SEC had attracted the concern of some institutions which saw the SEC as indispensable in the management of SOEs and had offered some support.
He made particular mention of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST) Company that had helped in the refurbishment of the SEC’s office and provided some human resource to help in the operations of the commission.
SOEs crucial to economy
The Head of the Public Investment Division of the Ministry of Finance, Mr Joseph Chognuru, said SOEs played a vital role in the development of the economy by way of employment creation and revenue generation.
He, however, added that they had also contributed to some of the challenges that confronted the national economy, for which reason measures had to be instituted to ensure efficiency on their part.
The Director-General of the GCCA, Mr Simon Allotey, said the performance contract document was a strategic management tool that would be deployed to maximise the output of the authority.
The Managing Director of the SHS, Dr Samuel Sarpong, said one of the main reasons state-owned institutions were often dragged before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament was that they failed to adhere strictly to the regulations governing the operations of their institutions.