The chairperson of the Public Enterprises CEO Forum, Fluksman Samuel, has lamented the poor working relationship between the executives and the boards of public enterprises, saying the government needs to appoint competent individuals. He made the statement at the opening of the second public enterprises conference at the Gross Barmen resort on Wednesday, saying the government, the board, and the executive management should work together to ensure a professional and cordial working relationship. 'I would like to state that all is not well in the public enterprise sector. We do share our moments of joy and sorrow. Of particular concern are the ongoing reports of poor working relations between some boards and their respective accounting officers,' Samuel said. He noted that there are 'pockets of boards and their respective chief executive officers who do not see eye to eye.' 'It is unfortunate that some discussions in corporate boardrooms are characterised by antagonism, tension, conflict, and an endless t ug of war. This state of affairs has the potential to derail progress in the public enterprise sector,' said Samuel, who is chief executive officer of the Lderitz Waterfront. In his address to the top management of public enterprises at the beginning of their three-day conference, Samuel emphasised the importance of a good relationship between the board of directors and the accounting officers. 'I am pleased to note that this matter forms part of the topics to be discussed at this conference. It is hoped that we will reflect deeply, look at the underlying causes of poor working relationships, and come up with remedial actions,' he said. Meanwhile, Samuel called on the government 'to appoint men and women of substance' who are 'fit and proper' to the boards of public enterprises. He further called on the government to assume an 'activist role' in the induction phase of the newly appointed boards before the beginning of their oversight functions. 'It is critical that the appointing authority spell out clea rly the roles and responsibilities of public enterprise boards, including providing strategic leadership and creating a favourable environment for public institutions to achieve their respective mandates,' he said. Finance and Public Enterprises Minister Iipumbu Shiimi, whose ministry facilitates the appointment of most boards, said his ministry is working to create better governance in public enterprises. Shiimi, who also addressed the conference, said they have started strengthening the recruitment process to get the best talent on the boards of public enterprises. 'There is a recruitment system in place, but it does not always yield good results,' Shiimi said, adding that the ministry is building capacity. Source: The Namibian Press Agency The Young Professional and Youth Coalition (YPYC) has charged the youth to increase climate activism in furtherance of achieving the objects of the 'Conference of the Parties' - COP 28. In a statement issued to the Ghana News Agency in Accra ahead of a one-day high level virtual youth conference, scheduled for November 27, President and Founder, YPYC, Mr Andy Osei Okrah, said diverse initiatives had been triggered locally to feed into the global challenge to strengthen youth participation in climate change programmes and urged young people to take advantage of them. 'The YPYC will join the comity of nations in a concerted campaign to roll back the pervasive effects of climate change on humanity and livelihoods.' Mr Osei Okrah said behavioral change held the key to positioning the youth as owners with a greater stake in the fortunes of the environment in the distant future to join global initiatives in restoring the ecology to its former self. He said student leaders, tertiary students, young professional s, youth and climate change advocates and ambassadors, who made up the target group, should constitute themselves into brand ambassadors of climate change content for the good of humanity. He said the conference would navigate the delicate balance of achieving a healthy, regulated climate and the ever-increasing human reliance on same for research, industrial growth and technological advances. 'We need collective mobilisation to bring issues of the environment to the front burner to let same feature prominently on the table of officialdom in tandem with political success and economic prosperity, which predominantly, has been the priority of the political class,' Mr Osei Okrah added. He noted that: 'Stopping global warming is an inherently global goal since greenhouse gasses emitted anywhere, affect people everywhere, and the survival or otherwise of one, is inextricably indexed to the other.' The YPYC Founder called for fair and inclusive decision-making process in a bid to thread down the wave of increas ed heat and drought in parts of the world. 'The single biggest health threat facing humanity, including air quality, disease, extreme weather events, forced displacement, increased hunger and poor nutrition can be reversed with the active inclusion of the youth.' Speakers for the conference include Miss Roselyn Fosuah Adjei, Director of Climate Change, Forestry Commission, Professor Daniel Ofori, Director, Forest Research institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and Miss Dora Cudjoe, lead stakeholder engagement, CIF,USA. Source: Ghana News Agency