Institutional Corporate governance structures must be strengthened - IoD- Ghana

The Institute of Directors, Ghana (IoD-Ghana) has called for a comprehensive legislation to regulate how individuals were appointed to serve on boards of institutions be it public or private.

This, it believed would ensure quality representation of the Boards, instill corporate governance discipline and ensure that organisational objectives and goals were achieved.

Mr Rockson Dogbegah, President of IoD-Ghana, who made the call, stressed that the legislation would generate appropriate development culture and leadership in both public and private sector organisations to propel growth and development of the Country.

He was speaking at a day’s seminar on Corporate Governance on Wednesday in Cape Coast, during which the Central Region branch of IoD-Ghana was inaugurated with a seven-member interim Executive Committee inducted into office.

The Committee was tasked to champion the culture of good corporate governance in the Region.

According to the Institute, corporate governance has direct link with national governance and therefore a sound corporate governance could not be treated as an option for businesses alone.

Again, it said, there were clear evidence that sound corporate governance assured investors of better climate for investment and it must be strengthened to attract more investors.

Mr. Dogbegah advocated a sound institutional corporate governance to propel economic growth and development.

The call comes in the wake of recent crisis in the financial sector, which many had attributed to the ineffectiveness of the Board of Directors of the affected financial institutions.

“We all know what is happening in the Corporate Governance landscape. A lot of things are not going right. So it’s about time we instill corporate governance discipline in our institutions and our spheres of life as Ghanaians”, Mr Dogbegah stressed.

“Corporate governance is all about how organisations are governed. The success and failures of the organisation is the responsibility of the Board of Directors” and so a legislation, together with good insight, knowledge and competencies, will ensure quality output Boards.

Professor John Bright Aheto, a Fellow of IoD-Ghana, identified some of the key corporate governance challenges in Ghana to include political interference and the issue of conflict of interest.

He said persons appointed to serve on Boards must be subjected to thorough investigations to ascertain their level of integrity and moral standards and have some general, strategic, analytical, critical thinking, character, communication and interpersonal competencies.