?Boards Must Be Allowed to Appoint SOEs Managing Directors - President, Institute of Directors Ghana

By Kingsley Asare

Board of directors should be allowed to appoint chief executive officers (CEOs) and managing directors (MDs) of State Owned Enterprises (SoEs) instead of the President doing so, the president of the Institute of Directors Ghana, Rockson Dogbegah has said.

That, he said, would allow the board of directors to demand for better performance and accountability from CEOs and MDs of SoEs.

Mr Dogbegah stated this in an interview after a panel discussion in Accra yesterday as part of the fourth edition of the Ghana CEO Summit.

The panel discussion dubbed the Board Room Panel was on the topic, 'Ethics and Corporate Governance: How Corporate Governance can ensure that high ethical standards are met to restore trust'.

Mr Dogbegah said the current practice where the President appointed CEOs and MDs of SoEs flouted corporate governance rules.

According to him, because some CEOs and MDs were appointed by the President their allegiance was to the President and not the board they served under, adding that some CEOs and MDs even wield more power than their board of directors.

Mr Dogbegah entreated CEOs, and MDs to demonstrate high ethical values such as transparency to drive the growth and profitability of the organisations they lead.

The Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, Professor Stephen Adei said character, qualification and competence were critical for the success of organisations.

He said it was not only enough for leaders of organisations to have so many degrees and accolades, but good character.

Prof Adei said all was not lost in terms of good corporate governance as some organisations were being well managed by their leaders, and mentioned Fidelity Bank and Unilever Ghana Limited as good examples.

The Board Chair of First Atlantic Bank, Karen Akiwumi-Tanoh called on churches in the country to lead the discussions on ethics and good corporate governance.

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