Don't appoint a director who depends on board allowance for survival –Prof. Adei to CEOs

Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Prof. Stephen Adei, has advised corporate organizations against assigning Board of Directors who are not ‘self-sufficient’.

According to him, directors’ key role of supervising the legal and financial decisions of the company must not be hindered by the voracity for money.

In his words, “If you appoint somebody to your board, who needs your board allowance for survival, you are not going to get a good one. He must be self-sufficient. He doesn’t need your money or board allowance.”

He was making his point as a panel at the day two of the 2019 Ghana CEO Summit in Accra today.

The theme for discussion was “Ethics & Corporate Governance: HowCorporate Governance can ensure that high ethical standards are met to restore trust.”

Prof. Adei explained that for every business, the Board is critical to promote the ethical culture of the institution thus CEOs must do a thorough search of Directors who seek the interest of the company, of good character, and competent

He asserted that directors should be above a certain level before they are appointed.



Using his experience as an example, he stated that he was able to step down as a Board within a year at a company he did not disclose adding “But because I didn’t need it to survive I walked away to the shock of everybody. So I believe that a director must be above a certain cut and unfortunately we appoint people who do not meet the minimum competence, character, and fiducial responsibilities.”

He concluded that it is in the interest of CEOs to appoint Directors who will build on a strong ethical value, win the trust of shareholders, as well as attract loyal customers for the company.