The government has issued a directive prohibiting all loss-making State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) from paying bonuses to management, boards, and staff.

The directive was reinforced at the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) Annual Stakeholders Conference held at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra today, Thursday, March 19, where high-ranking officials warned that the era of rewarding failure in the public sector has officially ended.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Ampem Nyarko reiterated President Mahama’s uncompromising stance on the fiscal discipline required of specified entities. He noted that SOEs must transition into profitable ventures or face the ultimate sanction.

“SOEs must perform or be dissolved,” Mr. Nyarko stated, echoing the President's position that state-funded entities cannot continue to drain national resources while rewarding themselves with performance incentives.

Addressing the gathering of CEOs and board chairs, Vice-President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang revealed that the government is currently developing a Performance-Linked Remuneration Framework.

This new system, to be implemented jointly by the Ministry of Finance and SIGA, will ensure that salaries and incentives within the SOE sector are strictly tied to measurable outcomes and financial health.

The Vice President announced, signalling a fundamental shift in how public sector compensation is structured.

The Director-General of SIGA, Professor Michael Kpessa-Whyte, added his voice to the call for reform, issuing a stern admonition to CEOs who oversee perennial losses.

He reminded the heads of these institutions that as custodians of state assets, they are legally and morally bound to deliver value to the Ghanaian taxpayer.

The conference comes at a time of increased public scrutiny following audit reports that have highlighted billions of cedis in irregularities within the state enterprise sector.

By linking pay to performance and cutting off bonuses for underperforming boards, the government aims to instil a private-sector discipline within the nation's strategic institutions.