Privatize all state-owned enterprises – Joe Jackson

An Economist, Joe Jackson is questioning why the state keeps running abattoirs across Ghana.

According to Joe Jackson, State-Owned Enterprises including the Accra and Kumasi Abattoirs are destroying Ghana and should be sold off.

According to Researcher Patrick Stephenson, between 2016, 2017, and 2018 the Accra Abattoir Company Limited made a loss of over GHC 640,000 for the year under review, whiles the Kumasi Abattoir Company Limited made a loss of GHC 740,000 with government’s shareholding being 20.35%.

That is not all as other State-Owned Enterprises according to Patrick Stephenson also made huge losses including the Cocoa Processing Company and the Produce Buying Company Limited.

“Your two institutions in the agriculture space, the two cocoa institutions are responsible for nearly 95% of the losses. Cocoa Processing Company made a loss of GHC 25.56M whiles the Produce Buying Company Limited caused a loss of GHC 187M. These cocoa ones and abattoirs are all loss-making businesses and the losses are no jokes”.

“There are Private people who are running these same businesses in this country if they are making loses how will they be in businesses?” He stressed.

The report which was released in 2018 by the Finance Ministry regarding the losses the state- run companies are making is capable of running down the economy down.

Contributing to the discussions on the 3FM’s Sunrise Morning Show with Alfred Ocansey, Mr Joe Jackson questioned “Why does the state have to run abattoir. Why can’t we privatize it? Why is it that our hard earned money is going to institutions that are making losses?

“It is unacceptable situation and it is only because each government that comes to power, its biggest party names come from appointing these party members so State Owned Enterprises are a way of funding the party. It is sad and untenable because they are taxing more people and in a needless way and all that we do is to throw that money into black holes to be consumed and wasted.

According to Joe Jackson, “What needs to be done is we should privatize these agencies. This one we will lay it clearly on the President’s table, the Senior Minister, Osafo Marfo and the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Attah who make up the Economic Management Team. The majority of these institutions should be privatized. When you are in a hole you stop digging its simple”.

“The way government is structured currently is inefficient, is bloated and is not fit for purpose and the only way out to reduce corruption is to reduce the size of government and we can’t do that when we own abattoir and other enterprises we have no business running. They pay salaries that they shouldn’t, they are buying cars that they shouldn’t for executives”.