Policy think tank IMANI Africa is urging President John Mahama to intervene in what it describes as a growing misinterpretation of a recent directive from the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) that encourages State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to prioritise SIC Insurance PLC and SIC Life for their insurance needs.

In its petition to the Presidency, IMANI says the December 2025 SIGA directive, intended as a broad policy encouragement to strengthen state-owned insurers, is increasingly being treated across public institutions as a compulsory instruction with direct consequences for procurement transparency.

According to IMANI, several SOEs have already altered their procurement behaviour, with some allegedly bypassing competitive tendering in favour of what they perceive to be the “preferred insurer.”

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The think tank warns that this evolving practice, if left unchecked, amounts to an informal override of the Public Procurement Act (Act 663), which requires competitive processes for insurance placements.

“The concern is not the existence of a policy preference. The concern is how that preference is being interpreted on the ground,” the petition argues.

“Policy nudges must not be mistaken for operational directives that pre-determine procurement outcomes.”

IMANI is calling on President Mahama to move quickly to clarify SIGA’s mandate, stressing that while SIGA may guide governance reforms within SOEs, it does not have the legal authority to influence or predetermine the outcome of procurement processes.

The think tank wants the President to explicitly state that: SIGA’s inter-trading mandate cannot replace or supersede procurement law, SOEs must continue to use competitive tendering and value-for-money assessments, and no insurer—state-owned or private—should be given a procurement advantage outside the law

IMANI says such clarity is critical to maintaining market confidence and preventing a system where procurement decisions are shaped by “policy assumptions rather than legal obligations.”