'If you fail to submit audited accounts, you go home' - President Mahama tells SOE bosses

President John Dramani Mahama has warned Chief Executive Officers of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that they will be dismissed if they fail to submit their audited accounts and annual reports by the deadline set by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA).

Speaking at a diaspora town hall meeting in London on Sunday, May 31, 2026, as part of his visit to the UK, Mahama said compliance with reporting requirements would no longer be optional, stressing that chief executives who fail to meet the deadline would be shown the exit.

“I’ve told the CEOs that by a certain date, SIGA has set the date, I think it’s middle of this year — if you have not presented your audited accounts, you haven’t presented your annual reports, the road is your face. You go home,” Mahama warned.

He explained that the directive forms part of efforts to tighten oversight of state-owned enterprises and improve accountability in public institutions.

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According to him, government has made the submission of audited accounts and annual reports a key performance indicator for CEOs of state enterprises, following concerns about weak governance and poor financial management in some organisations.

Mahama disclosed that authorities discovered some SOEs had failed to submit audited accounts and annual reports for up to seven years.

“We found out that some state-owned enterprises had not presented annual reports or audited accounts for seven years. I mean, who runs an organisation like that?” he questioned.

He argued that losses incurred by poorly managed state-owned enterprises eventually become liabilities for the state, worsening public debt and putting pressure on the economy.

“Even while we are being disciplined and making sure we are using the money properly, chief executives of state-owned enterprises go and make huge losses, and because they belong to the state, those losses are contingent liabilities on the public debt,” he added.

MRA/VPO

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