Dr. Bawumia launches new corporate governance code
A new corporate governance code for Ghana has been launched by the Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
The code developed by the Institute of Directors (IoD) will among other things set national standards for corporate governance in the country, promote enterprise and entrepreneurs, promote Ghanaian values, ethical commitments and promote Ghana as a place to do business.
It also harmonises the different industry and sector specific governance code to provide ease of compliance and reference to promote the culture of good corporate governance for both public and private organisations.
Launching the code in Accra yesterday, representative of the Vice President who is also the Minister of State in charge of State Enterprises, Mr Samuel Ato Cudjoe, said the government was delighted to see the new code dovetail into its agenda of promoting good governance.
He said it was more refreshing that the code took into consideration the sustainable development goals which remained an important component of the country’s development agenda.
Mr Cudjoe said the development of the code, demonstrated a critical function which professional organisations would need to succeed.
He said it was important for other professional bodies to take a cue from the IoD and come up with professional codes to promote standards in their organisations.
The development and the launch of the code only acted as the beginning of the work as such the IoD would have to collaborate with the Ministry of Education to incorporate it into school curricular so that the children would be taught about good corporate governance, he said.
Dr Bawumia said beyond fostering collaboration with educational institutions, there was the need to also ensure that the document was available for all.
On his part, the President of IoD, Mr Rockson Dogbegah, said the launch of the code made Ghana the 51st country in Africa to have such a document.
He said the code would not only serve as a unified national corporate governance reference but would seek to enhance the country’s global appeal as an investment destination.
Mr Dogbegah bemoaned the constitutional arrangement where the President of the country was made to appoint Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) at the expense of the board.
He said if the country was to make progress, then there would have to be some legal re-arrangements to reform those constitutional arrangements.
Source: ghanaiantimes
