Board members should stick to their roles (Page 32) June 11, 2009

Story: Michael Donkor
THE Minister of Transport, Mr Mike Hammah, has charged board chairmen of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to stick to their roles and not to take over the day-to-day running of the institutions.
He said the situation where board chairpersons and members virtually took over management and the day-to-day running of such institutions should be avoided.
Mr Hammah made the call when he inaugurated three reconstituted boards under the Ministry of Transport in Accra at the weekend.
They were the board of directors of the Airport Company Limited, Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA).
He noted that the boards served as chaperons of management but cautioned that care should be taken so that as of a ship, the boards would stick to their roles as captains whiles the steering of the ship was left to the rest of the crew.
He said the realisation of the mission and vision of the ministry for the benefit of the people and the country could be possible only by a co-operative spirit.
Mr Hammah urged the GCAA board to ensure that the aviation sector was restored to the “FAA category one status”, seek title to all aviation lands and adopt strategies to effectively operationalise the hub concept, as well as ensure the implementation of the Kotoka International Airport phase III rehabilitation project.
For the Maritime sector, he urged the board of directors of GPHA to dredge the ports of Tema and Takoradi to cater for modern generation cargo vessels and review the port master plan.
Mr Hammah also urged the board to develop Boankra near Kumasi to serve as a distribution and consolidation centre for cargo for the northern part of the country and their landlocked neighbours.
He said it had come to his notice that a lot of misprocurement had taken place in some of these establishment and urged them to critically look at these issues and address them as quickly as possible.
He said a critical point worthy of note was that of the social democratic nature of the current administration.
He urged them to be guided by this in the formulation of their programmes, plans and policies, always bearing in mind that the government’s development plan was informed by the welfare of the people.
The acting Executive Chairman of the State Enterprises Commission, Mr Yao Klinogo, appealed to the board of directors to be guided by the Companies Code, 1963, act 179; Companies Act, Act 461, 1993 and Subvented Agencies Act, Act 706, 2006 in their operations.
He urged the board members to bring their individual expertise to bear on all their leadership and direction during their tenure.
The Board Chairman of GCAA, Wing Commander Andy Mensah, on behalf of his colleagues pledged their commitment and readiness to work assiduously to turn their various establishments around.