The Minister for Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe has questioned the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) the kind of corporate practices it employs in its operations.

Mr Cudjoe asked the question after he revealed that BOST since its establishment in 1993, has never held an Annual General Meeting (AGM) to account to its stakeholders.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, the Minister noted that at the root of this unproductive practice is the general lackadaisical attitude towards government work.

AGMs are usually the platforms for business accountability to shareholders and may cover the following;

• The AGM Agenda
• Welcome and apologies.
• Minutes of previous AGM.
• President’s report.
• CEO’s report (if applicable)
• Presentation of Financial reports.
• Constitution amendments (if any)
• Elections.

While acknowledging the lack of funds and logistics to facilitate work output, Mr Cudjoe said that attitude towards work was a major factor to the ailing state enterprises.

“It is a collective responsibility. You and I have not shown our interest in their performance in the past. Can you believe that as of 2017, Ghana Publishing Company had not published any of its own accounts for a decade?

“Can you believe BOST, since its establishment which is about 29 years ago, has never held an Annual General Meeting before? What kind of corporate practice is that?” he wondered.

The Minister was however, hopeful that with the establishment of the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA), the prospects of SOEs will transform, explaining that since the Authority has the mandate to hold State-Owned Enterprises accountable, many of these derailing corporate practices will be stopped.

“This oversight structure has never happened before. No government has brought SOEs to the front burner as it has happened in the era of the Akufo-Addo government.

“That is why we have SIGA which has been charged with the mandate and backed by the law to do what it is doing now. We’re having them in full course and every result we desire from them as you alluded to is what drives us every day,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the founder of Dalex Finance, Kenneth Thompson believes the time was ripe for stated-owned institutions to be sold to private investors.

He was of the view that the appointment of leadership at the enterprises is mostly done based on loyalty rather that on merit.