Julius Debrah, the Chief of Staff at the Presidency, has urged board members of state institutions and corporate entities to see themselves as originators of the success of their institutions.
He emphasized that being a member of a board was not just the prestige of being there, but that people must see themselves as the originators of the success of the institution.
This, he reiterated, was because management’s actions are typically guided by the directions given by the board.
Mr Debrah stated this when he formally launched the 2025 edition of the Boardroom Governance Summit at the Presidency in Accra, last week.
The Summit focuses on promoting robust boardroom practices and accountability in corporate governance.
It aims to establish a new benchmark for corporate governance discourse in Ghana and beyond.
Mr Debrah said the Boardroom Governance Summit would enable participants to discuss, strategize and see how best to run their institutions and companies.
“So as a nation, we have to remind ourselves, what are we doing right and what are we doing wrong?” he said.
Mr Debrah said President John Dramani Mahama intended that all board members reinvigorated their activities and actions and should refrain from relaxing.
The Presidency, he said was mindful that various institutions were having orientation programmes for their board members, but such members should also take the national Summit seriously as it would be a platform where synergies would be drawn, good lessons would be learnt, and international good practices would be shared, which would enable them to run their board effectively.
He reiterated the Government’s support for the Boardroom Governance initiative, adding that it would ensure the summit’s success, because “we want to reset the country.”
Professor Douglas Boateng, Convenor of the Boardroom Governance Summit, stated that Ghana had never lacked vision or policies, but what Ghanaians had lacked were effective governance structures and resilience agendas.
Madam Marietta Agyeiwaa Brew, the Senior Legal Advisor to the President, said the importance of the Governance Summit must be emphasized because without effective boardroom governance, it was trite that their institutions, councils and commissions would crumble.
She stated that, as a government, effective boardroom governance was a crucial aspect of its reset agenda.
She noted that if the nation’s commissions, councils and institutions were substantial, waste and corruption would be reduced, adding that there would be efficiency and effectiveness in the nation’s institutions and overall, economic sustainability and development.
“Effective boardroom governance for us is not an option. It is a must,” Madam Brew said.
“And so, we hope that eventually, when the summit is held, there will be fruitful deliberations and effective and good decisions that will assist us in our reset agenda.”
