Accountability Crisis: Sophia Akuffo unveils weaknesses in SOE operations

Former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, has expressed concern over what she termed as the persistent underperformance of Ghana's State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs),

According to her, the problem can be attributed to weak monitoring systems and ineffective enforcement of accountability measures.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion on "The Mining Regime in Ghana” organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, Sophia Akuffo warned that the inefficiencies within SOEs continue to weigh heavily on the national economy.

"I do not want to hear about sitting on this or that. We have to move beyond that—focus on the policies and methodologies that have been mentioned, the management, and the monitoring," she noted.

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She stressed the need for policymakers to shift focus from rhetoric to concrete action by strengthening oversight frameworks and adopting robust policies to fully harness Ghana's natural resources and the potential of state enterprises.

According to her, many state-owned enterprises have struggled or collapsed primarily because of mismanagement and the absence of strict enforcement mechanisms to hold leadership accountable.

"The state-owned enterprises seem to be folding up because they were not being properly managed. When we were doing monitoring, enforcement was not taking place," she added.

AM/SEA

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