A former Information Minister in the Kufuor regime, Stephen Asamoah-Boateng has been appointed as the Chief Executive of the State Enterprises Commission (SEC).

Mr. Asamoah-Boateng is to take over from Dr. Camynt Baezie who heads the organisation.

Dr. Baezie is said to have been asked to proceed and take all his accumulated leave on Monday, April 24, 2017 and handover to Mr. Asamoah-Boateng.

With the responsibility of ensuring the smooth and proper running of State Own Enterprises (SoE), SEC has been accused of abandoning its responsibility, which has resulted in declining fortunes of otherwise profitable state-owned organisations in the country.

Even though SEC recently relaunched the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) Excellence Awards to help boost productivity and efficiency of the SOE’s in service delivery to its clientele which include government, sources say the new boss Mr. Asamoah-Boateng has been charged with the responsibility of holding the chief executives of all SoEs to deliver on their contracts.

The government has directed that, Managing Directors and Chief Executives of SoE’s are given performance contracts not security of tenure which some of them abuse due to their links to the government of the day.

Stephen Asamoah Boateng was born on August 18, 1958 and spent his early childhood at Konongo.

He attended the Konongo Methodist Primary, Kormantse District Assembly Middle Schools, and Jasikan Roman Catholic Middle, before proceeding to the Konongo/Odumase Secondary School.

He obtained his first degree at the University of Ghana, Legon. He holds a master’s degree from the Henley Management College, Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Boateng’s political activism started at a tender age of 19. Among other positions held, he was an active member of the Ghana Democratic Movement whose membership included Professor Joe de-Graft Johnson, J. H. Mensah, R. O. Frim-pong Bright Oduro Kwarteng and Zaya Yebo.

He is a former Member of Parliament for Mfantseman West and Deputy Minister of Information.

He also served as Minister of Local Government Rural Development and Environment, Tourism and Diaspora Relations and later as Minister of Information and National Orientation.