~GEBE has had no audited accounts since 2021, while the quarterly reporting requirement is still only a draft policy~
PHILIPSBURG:--- Finance Minister Marinka Gumbs has pledged to end what she described as years of passive Government ownership of public companies, but the draft 2026 Budget material shows that some of the key accountability mechanisms she proposes are not yet in force.
The Minister told Parliament that Government-owned companies have historically operated without sufficiently active shareholder oversight and said Government would require stronger reporting, dividend policies and corporate-governance standards.
She went further, saying Government would no longer simply wait for annual accounts—some of which had not been received for years—and announced plans for quarterly financial reporting.
However, Government subsequently clarified that the quarterly-reporting requirement is currently part of a draft participation policy.
The proposal is for Government-owned companies to report quarterly to Government, while Finance would provide Parliament with an annual report.
But the Ministry explicitly states that the policy is still a draft and could change.
The concern is not theoretical.
The Finance presentation states that GEBE has not produced audited accounts since 2021, while Government has backed a Cg. 75.6 million loan connected to the utility.
TelEm, meanwhile, recorded a reported Cg. 38.4 million loss in 2023, although much of that was described as one-off and its underlying loss was around Cg. 6 million.
Government therefore carries significant financial exposure to companies whose financial reporting remains uneven.
Finance Minister Gumbs has stated: “We are not going to use the taxpayers’ money to bail out bad management or reward corporate opacity.”
That is a powerful commitment.
Parliament now has to ensure the mechanisms needed to enforce it move beyond draft policy.
