Calls for the President to constitute new Boards for key government institutions have intensified due to the potential administrative lapses further delays could cause.
The former Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Adu Anane Antwi has indicated that Ghana may have lost huge investments at least for the first half of this year.
According to Dr. Anane Antwi, the absence of a Board for the Commission may have made it unattractive for businesses interested to establish operations in Ghana to pursue their ambition and probably abandon them altogether.
Speaking on Business Today, Financial Analyst, Sam Bediako Asante said the absence of Boards could pose dire consequences on the economy if not resolved soon.
He however believes some administrative works could still be carried out by the available management teams.
“We should be worried a little bit but not to the extent that some are claiming…I am of the view that in each of these financial institutions, we have got principal officers who are working on a daily basis.
The Board usually comes in once in a while or sometimes quarterly, as such most of the work is rested on the principal staff,” Mr. Asante stated.
He added, “Though the Board for some institutions like the SEC is not in place at the moment, I think it is not a very big deal.”
Even though the NPP government is six months in office, the President is yet to name Boards for some critical state institutions.
Indications are that boards are yet to be formed for institutions such as; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), National Insurance Commission (NIC), Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), National Investment Bank (NIB), among others.
The Financial Consultant however expressed concern over the need for the government to be critical in selection for members to join the various boards.
He cited what he describes as the inability of the erstwhile NDC government to appoint qualified and competent persons to constitute the various boards.
“During the previous government, we saw some boards which had ordinary people without any knowledge on the institutions that they representing on their boards.
If you are instituting such boards, you must have certain people in mind; those who are experts then if you are adding one or two generalists then that will be fine,”
Mr. Bediako Asante also maintained that the NPP administration shouldn’t face serious difficulty in its selection.
“I think that the Finance Ministry and the Presidency are looking out for such qualified people hence the delay in constituting such boards…I believe that with this very government, they have got very competent people for whatever position that they may want people to be placed in…As far as the personnel to sit on these boards are concerned, the country has got the numbers,”