The Minister for Transport, Hon. Kwaku Ofori Asimah, has said Governing Boards are put in place to advise and give guidance to any institution they are to govern. They are to help the institution grow and improve on their dealings and maximize profit.
He added, it was not in the place of any Board or its member to struggle over positions with their management or the Chief Executive of the institution they are serving. In addition, he said, “power that does not bring people together is a disaster and did not want to hear such news of power struggle from these boards”.
Hon. Ofori Asiamah made this known when he inaugurated the Governing Boards of the Ghana Ports and Habours Authority (GPHA) and the Intercity State Transport Company Limited (ISTC).
The Minister called on the Boards to bring their expertise to bear in moving their institutions to the next level of development. He said, the success of the Boards and their institutions was a success of the country and Ghanaians would be grateful for that.
He noted the Boards should sit and take introspection of their workings in the last four years so that things they did not do well would be corrected and amended, and those that were done to improve the institutions they should do better for the ordinary Ghanaian who deals with them to feel the impact and achieve the confidence that had been reposed in them.
The Minister urged the Boards to work together with their various managements to foster growth, because, they had been called to public service to work for the interest of the country and did not necessarily have to be friends before work could go on, but the most important thing was to create an enabling working environment for everybody to work effectively.
“I will not hesitate to recommend to His Excellency the removal of any Board or its member who would not corporate for work to go on smoothly within any institution”, he added.
He said the Ministry was not going to interfere in the daily dealings of the institutions but would not compromise on the policy direction of the Ministry and the Government. He pledged the support of the Ministry to the Boards and recommended they organize a training session for all board members whether new, or reappointed to continue serving.
The Board Chair of the GPHA, Mr. Isaac Osei, speaking on behalf of the Boards mentioned they were going to work in the interest of the ordinary Ghanaian to achieve the developmental goal of the Ministry and the Government.
He said success was what they were going to aim at and would not power struggle with their institutions, but bring to bear their various expertise to the benefit of the ordinary Ghanaian