The Registrar of Companies, Mrs Jemima Mamaa Oware, who disclosed this in an interview with the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday, said the move had become necessary because the owners and founders of such entities had refused to file their annual returns and financial statements.

That, she said, was in contravention of section 126 (7) of the Companies Act 2019 (Act 992)which enjoined such entities to do so.

Mrs Oware explained that by the end of April of this year if such entities did not submit their five years annual returns and financial statements, the Office of Registrar of Companies (ORC) would begin a process to validate and strike out their names from the register of companies.

She said the exercise would also affect charity organisations, foundations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including foreign NGOs.

The Registrar of Companies indicated that all the Companies Limited by Guarantee that were currently in default could still be in good standing by filing their annual returns and financial statements in accordance with the Companies Act 2019 (Act 992) before the end of April 2023.

She said out of an earlier published list of 2,989 entities in default, only 116 had filed their annual returns together with their financial statements.

“The Public is being informed that from June 30, 2023, the ORC would, for the very first time, be fully implementing section 126 (6) of the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992) which states ‘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,” Mrs Oware stated.

That, she said, meant that an administrative penalty of GH¢300 (currently GH¢12.00 per penalty unit) would be charged for each day the default continued against those companies and every official of the company in line with the Companies Act.

“The Office by this notice is urging Secretaries and Auditors of these defaulted entities to prepare all necessary documents to file their annual returns on time, to avoid paying this Administrative Penalty and sanctions and thereby push their company into a state of inactivity,” she stated.

Mrs Oware entreated the public not to make any mobile money transfer to any mobile money account in the name of the Officer of the Registrar of Companies or Registrar General’s Department.

She said the Office did not operate or have a mobile money account neither has the Office authorised any person to act on its behalf on striking off companies in default.