Ashanti Regional Head-Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC), Ama Akyia Prempeh, has disclosed that business and company registrations have seen 394 and 327 percent growth respectively since 2019.

She attributed this feat to numerous sensitisation campaigns the department has embarked on, including relocating its offices to Adum – which is the central business district of Kumasi.

The idea of relocating to ORC-owned office complex came about after the landlady of their rented private building at Dadiesoaba, a suburb of Kumasi, in 2012 threatened to evict the then Registrar-General’s Department (RGD).

The Chief State Attorney then in charge of the region’s RGD, Joseph Kofi Harlley, decided that it was time for Kumasi as the region’s commercial hub to have an office befitting its status to forestall any similar eviction in the future.

Subsequently, together with some senior members of staff, he proceeded to scout the city for a suitable site or a building to purchase as office accommodation.

Their efforts were rewarded with a very suitable piece of land that was lying next to St. George’s Church – opposite the Catering Rest House along Fuller Road at Adum in the Kumasi metropolis business district.

The current Registrar of Companies, Jemima Oware, supervised the building’s construction from 2015 until it was completed and handed over in June 2022.

Meanwhile, giving a speech at a ceremony to open the ORC’s first office building complex at Adum Kumasi, Ms. Prempeh revealed that the facility is funded with internally generated funds from both the Registrar-General’s Department (RGD) and ORC at a cost of GH¢8million.

It boasts 34 offices, two conference halls, four kitchenettes, 21 lavatories, two large car parks, a janitor’s office, a pantry and canteen, reception and a security office.

The edifice is expected to serve the people of Ashanti as well as some parts of Western, Oti and Eastern Regions.

Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame Yeboah – also speaking at the event before unveilling the building’s plaque, disclosed that an amount of US$3.5million has been paid for two acres of land at the University of Ghana, Legon, for constructing the ORC headquarters.

He added that this was made possible through the Ministry of Finance; the Registrar of Companies, Jemima Oware; and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.

“We have made progress in acquiring a two-acre piece of land near the University of Ghana at Legon to construct the ORC headquarters, Accra.

“The ORC, with the assistance of myself (AG), the finance minister and Attorney-General’s Department, have succeeded in paying-off the required consideration for acquiring the land; which is US$3.5million. I am informed that the architectural drawings for the ORC headquarters will be ready by September 2023, and the process of selecting a contractor will begin,” he said.

“The insightful leadership of Mrs. Oware and guidance of ORC’s board have been very instrumental in propelling it to steadily become one of the most important modern institutions in Ghana’s quest to promote good governance and accountability,” he added.

Former Registrar-General for Ashanti Region, Kofi Harlley; Ashanti Regional Head-ORC, Ama Akyia Prempeh; and the Registrar of Companies, Jemima Oware, were given awards for their contributions to successfully completing the building-land acquisition.