Ghana government asked to implement new Company Act 992
Professor John Gatsi, Dean of the University of Cape Coast Business School, has stated that the agenda to ease doing business in the country could only be realised if the Registrar General was well resourced to implement the provisions of the New Company Act 992.
He stressed the need for the Registrar General to provide implementation guidelines to address issues of office locations, particularly at the regional level, human resources and IT infrastructure.
Prof Gatsi who said this when he addressed a symposium organised by GIMPA Takoradi campus in collaboration with Excel Professional Institute in Takoradi, commended the President for the quick manner in which he assented to the new act to replace the 1963 version, which had irrelevant clauses.
The programme, which was attended by about 30 directors, captains and members of companies in the Western Region was to among others educate the participants on the New Company Act 992.
It was also to market what GIMPA has in terms of courses and programme, which could be relevant to the companies and businesses in Ghana.
Prof Gatsi who focused on regulatory issues called on the appropriate stakeholders to ensure the immediate implementation of Ghana’s New Company Act 992 to ease doing business in Ghana.
He advised the Registrar to learn from regulatory failures in the past and adopt proactive regulatory posture as against reactive fire-fighting.
The Dean tasked business captains and directors to endeavour to scrutinize suggestions for apportionments unto corporate boards, adding that doing business now have changed and they should not be solely managed by families and friends but by partners and qualified people.
Prof Gatsi pointed out that the new Act has both positive and negative regulatory postures and tasked directors to brace themselves up for the task so that they do not flout the law.
Mr Holy Kportorgbi, lecturer at GIMPA took the participants through the historical antecedents of companies’ regulation in Ghana from the 1908 to date.
He also gave an overview of the new Act highlighting on more than a dozen of regulatory changes in the Act including, extended qualification of a company secretary.
Mr Kportorgbi indicated that the new law specifies that a person was not qualified to be appointed as a company secretary unless the person was a lawyer or a chartered Accountant with the ICAG.
Touching on the role of a director in a company, he said the new Act indicates that directors should make statutory declaration that they were fit and prepared to act as Company Directors.
He said the new Act also sought to strengthen corporate governance systems by extending responsibilities and duties of directors.
Mr Kportorgbi said the Act had made provisions for the tenure of auditors and compulsory cooling off period.
The participants expressed their gratitude to the organizers for the mind opening symposium and asked that regular programmes be organized to enable them know the in and out of the new Act.
Source: GNA