Godfred Alufar Bokpin, a Professor of Finance at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), has said the running down of state institutions cuts across even public universities and other quasi state enterprises.
The Professor says the matter involving the performance of the hotels belonging to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) which according to the government necessitated its attempt to sell them off is not peculiar to the Trust.
He was commenting about the recent comments made by the former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, that SSNIT deliberately run down the four hotels to distribute amongst themselves just like it is done to many state institutions which the Trust has debunked.
The former Chief Justice in an interview with Alfred Ocansey on TV3’s Ghana Tonight Thursday, July 25, 2024, indicated that SSNIT deliberately run down the hotel so they can distribute among themselves.
But in a response Monday, July 29, 2024, SSNIT noted that the claims by Madam Akuffo were false, detailing the processes that led to the awarding of the sale of the hotels to the Agric Minister, Bryan Abbey Acheampong.
Speaking on The Big Issue on TV3 Tuesday, July 30, 2024, Prof. Bokpin noted that state assets are not managed in Ghana with a focus on the future.
“The level of incompetence, the general attitude towards running down state institutions implicitly probably having at the back of our mind that in the worst case scenario, the State will come in, the taxpayer will come in. It’s pervasive. It’s not just SSNIT. It cuts across even pubic universities, you can see it across quasi State institutions all over.
“Our mentality about managing state assets is not the one we manage with the next generation in mind. We look at it more from a selfish point of view,” he indicated.
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