The Office of Registrar of Companies (ORC) has announced that it will begin the process to remove the names of some 2,812 organisations from its Register of Companies if such entities do not submit their five years’ annual returns and financial statements by the end of this month (April).

The affected entities include churches, clubs, unions, associations, non-governmental organisations (both local and foreign), charity organisations, foundations, and entities incorporated under the Companies Limited by Guarantee.

The ORC says the behaviour or action of the entities is in contravention of section 126 (7) of the Companies Act 2019 (Act 992), which enjoins such entities to file their annual returns and financial statements.

The ORC has stated that if the entities fail to do the needful, then, beginning from June 30, 2023, it would, for the very first time, be fully implementing Section 126 (6) of Act 992, which states that “where a Company defaults in complying with the filing of annual returns and financial statements, the Company and every officer of the Company that is in default is liable to pay to the Registrar an administrative penalty of 25 penalty units for each day during which the default continues.”

A penalty unit is currently equivalent to GHc12.00, meaning 25 penalty unit will amount to GHc300.

We think the ORC has waited for far too long in not cracking the whip in order to make organisations captured in its books comply with the law.

We live in a country where most of the people generally and certain organisations in particular want to avoid compliance with the law, especially where it involves the payment of money or rendering account of their activities.

How many property owners, including organisations, willingly and readily go to pay their property rates, for example, when they are due?

It is now public information that even some state organisations owe bills for power and water used over the years and have just begun to pay in bits

because the patience of the utility companies has been over-stretched and as such have exposed them.

Five years is too long a time for any serious regulator to look on while organisations under it refuse to comply with its laws or rules and regulations.

That long wait by the ORC is a serious aberration and not an isolated case in the country though.

There are stories of some organisations defaulting in other areas of their activities being regulated by other regulators than the ORC.

Certain businesses, for instance, evade taxes for some time before they are checked.

In the current ORC case, we wish to isolate the churches from the defaulting organisations and say the founders and their other leaders should bow their heads in shame because churches are supposed to guide others to put up good behaviour in all aspects of life.

Therefore, if they themselves are misbehaving, it means society risks failing to progress.

The ORC must publish the names of the defaulting churches in particular.

The way out now is that regulators of all manner of activities in the country must, henceforth, be more serious with their duties and rein in all erring organisations for the collective benefits of Ghanaian society.