Government hasn’t directed any CEO to proceed on retirement – Minister
The Government Monday debunked media reports that it has asked eight chief executive officers of state-owned agencies to proceed on retirement because they have passed the mandatory retirement age of 60.
Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information, in denying the report, at a news conference in Accra, on Monday, urged the public and institutional stakeholders to therefore disregard the information circulating in some sections of the media.
Over the past few days, some social and traditional media have reported that the Government has asked eight CEOs, who have passed 60 years to leave office by March this year.
The report mentioned Mr Eugene Ofosuhene, the Controller and Accountant General, Mr Maxwell Kofi Jumah, of the Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation, Mr Isaac Osei, of Tema Oil Refinery, Mr Kwame Owusu, of the Ghana Maritime Authority and Mr Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, of the Forestry Commission.
The rest are; Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Samuel Annor, the CEO of National Health Insurance Authority and Mr. K.K. Sarpong, the CEO of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.
But Mr Oppong Nkrumah said, should the President at any time opt to disengage the services of any CEO, it would be done as always, in accordance with established due process.
He explained that engagements between the Government and CEOs of State Owned enterprises are routine, and while it remained the prerogative of the President to engage or disengage their services, he exercised such powers after the requisite deliberations.
He, therefore, urged the media to always cross check controversial issues with his Ministry before publishing them to be able to serve the public with accurate information.
Asked by some journalists why the Ministry sometimes delayed in reacting to such false reports concerning government operations, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said it is not practically impossible for it react to every allegation made in the media across the country; besides a number of them were sheer speculation.
Source: GNA