A plan by SIC Insurance PLC to hold its 2024 Annual General Meeting on December 17, 2024, is now effectively on ice, after its third highest shareholder secured a court injunction against crucial items on the agenda of the AGM.
Mr. Daniel Ofori, who commands 11,570,515 shares, representing 5.9% of SIC’s total share secured the injunction through a 13th December, 2024 suit at the High Court in Accra.
And by dint of this suit, the man who only has fewer shares than the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Finance and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has everyone by the throat because among the things he has injuncted are the confirmation of SIC’s new Board Chairman, Dr. Rauf Audu and the Acting managing Director Ms. Hollistar Duah-Yentumi.
Meanwhile, the basis of his suit is Management’s alert to him that he will not be re-elected as a non-executive Director of the Insurance Company.
Mr. Ofori has been serving as non-executive member of SIC since 2014 and is due for re-election as retiring director – a position that lasts for a two year tenure.
However, SIC’s Management, through a 22nd October, 2024 letter, informed him that he is ineligible for re-election
According to the Management, his debarment for reelection is on the basis of a directive from the National Insurance Commission (NIC).
However, in his deposed affidavit, Mr. Ofori argues that those directives were issued as far back as 2021 but Management never brought it to his notice.
Even so, he avers that by virtue of that same directive, he is entitled for re-election as a retiring non-executive director – which is to run for two years.
Mr. Ofori avers further that even though these have been brought to the attention of Management, the notice that it issued to announce the AGM also indicated that Mr. Ofori will not be considered for re-election. And this is in spite of the fact that SIC intends to use the same AGM to re-elect elect others as retiring non-executive directors.
He had gone to court praying for a declaration that, “the election and/or ratifying the appointment of the Respondent’s directors and the re-election of retiring directors to the exclusion of Applicant is illegal and:
An order of injunction restraining the Respondent herein at its Annual General Meeting scheduled for the 17th day of December 2024 from:
- Electing and /or ratifying the appointment of its directors
- To re-electing retiring directors
- To approve the directors’ remuneration
And the court granted the injunction.
Meanwhile, sources have hinted that the individuals currently at the helm of SIC are not qualified for the positions they occupy and have since not been given approval by the insurance industry regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NIC) as such.
The Acting MD and Board Chair are currently not in good standing with the National Insurance Commission. In spite of this, the Acting MD is said to have made very consequential changes in the organogram of the company, basically putting square pegs into round holes.
She is also said to be effecting targeted transfers, unmerited promotions and direct interference in specialized professional areas within the SIC group, causing agitations among staff.
It is not clear if the AGM will take place as scheduled amidst the injunction on some items on the agenda or to be rescheduled.