Chairman for the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, and Member of Parliament for Offinso South, Mr. Ben Abdallah Banda has stated that the new Companies Bill 2018, when passed into an Act, will have tremendous impact on academia and the business community.
Mr. Abdallah Banda indicated that the purpose of the Bill is to amend certain critical provisions of the existing Companies Act 1923 (Act 179), to make it conform to new trends and practices for a more peaceful environment in business operations in Ghana.
In an interview with ghanajustice.com on a recent stakeholders consultation about the new Companies Bill 2018, Mr. Abdallah Banda pointed out that some provisions of the current Companies Act 1963 (Act 179) have discrepancies with the current economic trends and demands.
Mr. Abdallah further explained that the new Companies Bill, 2018 will allow investors to engage in other business fields without necessarily re-registering those businesses.
“We must look at the existing law and do the necessary amendments. The new Companies Bill will do away with the necessity of incorporation so that a particular company as a legal entity, can do other businesses, he added.
On the period of registering a business entity, Mr. Abdallah Banda revealed that the new Bill seeks to reduce the number of days in registering a business entity at the Registrar Generals Department.
Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committees Stakeholders engagement
The Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs held a stakeholders-meeting with various institutions and groups over the Companies Bill, 2018 on October 2, 2018 in Parliament.
The stakeholders-meeting brought together, fifteen different groups from the business community, key among them was the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF).
At the forum, individuals and institutions who had submitted their memoranda on the Bill had the opportunity to give further clarifications on their inputs.
Mr. Abdallah Banda, in his welcome address, stated that the discussion would afford the participants and the Committee, an opportunity to critically examine the Bill before being passed into an Act.
Mr. Abdallah Banda noted that the rich contributions from individuals and the business community would help the Committee in its deliberations and would give birth to a law that would stand the test of time.
The new Bill: Period of passing into an Act
According to Mr. Abdallah Banda, Parliament is expected to pass the Companies Act, 2018 at its next meeting to provide a safe environment for doing business in the country.
He disclosed that inputs solicited from experts, business players and other concerned persons would be collated and considered by the Committee.
Mr. Abdallah indicated further that after the stakeholders’ engagement, members of the Committee would do a practical analysis of the provisions in the Bill, vis-a-vis the recommendations from the stakeholders.
Thereafter, he said, the Committee would write a report and submit it to the plenary for consideration and amendments of about 370 clauses before it is passed into law.
The business community’s Memoranda
The members of the Business community who submitted their memoranda to the committee included the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF) and the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
One of the participants and a Company Law expert, Mr. Seth Kwasi Asante, suggested review of several provisions in the Companies Act to respond to changing needs in the business environment and demands.
He lamented that most of the provisions in the current Companies Act are hindrances to the success of businesses.
Source: GhanaJustice/S. Saint-Ayisi
