Boards must not perform procurement functions—Institute of Directors

Accra, Jan. 28, GNA – The Institute of Directors – Ghana (IoD) has urged boards of corporate organisations to desist from undertaking procurement functions.

The IoD said the “Board must be the ultimate referee in overseeing and ensuring that the procurement structures and processes” were working in accordance with good corporate governance practices.

“The Board must avoid the temptation of being a referee and player at the same time within the procurement chain and space.
“Such a situation can be problematic and expose Board members to conflict of interest and bad governance practices, which will jeopardise personal ethics thereby creating risk for the organisation,” a press statement issued by the IoD said.

Limits, roles, and due processes of procurement must be strictly respected at all times, the Institute said.
The IoD said the primary mission of the Board was to create sustainable wealth for the stakeholders, nurture and increase the assets of the shareholders on a sustainable basis.

It said ineffective, inefficient and unethical procurement practices posed significant threat to organisational performance value creation and survival.

“The role of the Director of a Board has serious legal implications as per the Ghana’s Companies Act of 2019 (Act 992).
” In effect, Directors must take their role seriously,” it said.

As part of measures to promote good corporate governance in public and private sectors, the IoD has set up an 18-Member Committee to facilitate the development of a National Corporate Governance Code in a year.

The project seeks to harmonise the existing different industry and sector-specific governance codes into a national code that would provide ease of compliance and reference to promote the culture of good corporate governance.

The members of the Committee are: Dr Frank Boateng, Professor Albert Puni, Prof. John Bright Kobla Aheto, Edward Ashong-Lartey, Donatus Kwesi Freitas, Richard Ruttmern, Eric Albert Opoku, Esther Armah, and Patience Ella Diaba.

The rest are: Professor Teerooven Soobaroyen, Dr Danson Kimani, Dr Renata Konadu, Dr John Malagila, Dr Brinda Mahadeo, Prof. Collins Ntim, Lawrence Ayitey, Marian M. Dsane, and William Darbi.

Dr Rejoice Wodomdedzi Foli is the Project Manager.

IoD was established in 1999 as a professional organisation committed to the professional practice of Corporate Directorship.
The Organisation exists to champion director professionalism and development through good corporate governance for the benefit of organisations, stakeholders and the country.

GNA