Former President John Dramani Mahama says most state-owned enterprises are on the verge of collapse because, the Akufo-Addo government has disregarded them.
Addressing Ghanaians through a Facebook live session on Thursday, the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), cited Produce Buying Company Limited (PBC) and Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) which he said were in their prime during his tenure, are now facing collapse under the incumbent administration.
“In our time PBC was the largest buyer of cocoa. They had a fleet of trucks but today, PBC is a sorry state of itself. And it is not only PBC but most state-owned companies that were handed over to this government but they are in a very sorry state,” he said.
He added: “BOST, was highly indebted when we took over but BOST bounced back and paid off its debt, restructured itself and started exporting petroleum products to Niger and Burkina Faso from the Bolgatanga depot.”
According to Mr Mahama, BOST was depositing $6million every fortnight to Bank of Ghana from petroleum sales to neighbouring countries.
“Today, that is not the case. If you go to the Bolgatanga depot there is no truck there, they are not loading anymore,” he added.
The former President was, however, hopeful that these almost extinct companies can be revamped should he come back to power.
“But PBC can be resuscitated if we have dedicated leadership and if the government encourages it and works to protect state enterprises.
Unfortunately, that is not the case, I mean this government doesn’t seem interested in state enterprises and I can understand because they are a conservative government. And they believe in private ownership of everything. They do not believe that the state should be involved in anything,” he noted.