The State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) has mounted a defence against allegations that it directed state-owned enterprises to channel their insurance exclusively to SIC Insurance PLC and SIC Life Company Limited, while hinting it may publicly name private insurers it believes distorted its communications.
Speaking on Joy FM, SIGA Director-General Dr. Michael Kpessa-White said the correspondence that IMANI Africa published was aimed only at ensuring the two state insurers had a seat at the table during competitive insurance placements. “Never in any of those letters were they being directed to concentrate their insurance in the hands of SIC or SIC Life,” he said.
Dr. Kpessa-White pointed to an earlier letter not published in IMANI’s reports, which he said encouraged heads of specified entities to include SIC and SIC Life in tender processes rather than award them business outright. He added that SIGA subsequently held a meeting involving the two state insurers and private players to clarify the guidance, after which “all parties understood the guidance, and there was no issue of monopolisation.”
The denial lands against a pointed documentary record. A December 11, 2025, letter from SIGA carries the subject heading “Directive to State-Owned Enterprises to Prioritise the Use of State-Owned Insurance Companies,” and references an earlier communication described as directing SOEs to prioritise SIC Insurance PLC and SIC Life for their insurance needs.
IMANI founder Franklin Cudjoe formally petitioned President Mahama on March 30, 2026, warning of “unseen political hands” raiding the insurance sector through administrative directives, and the Office of the President formally acknowledged the petition on April 1.
The controversy has drawn wider industry voices. GLICO General Insurance Limited formally wrote to the Presidency, raising concerns about disruption of established insurance placements and reallocation of portfolios without competitive processes, while Government Communications Minister Felix Kwakye Ofosu said President Mahama would review the petition and take appropriate action where required.
The ownership structure of SIC complicates the picture. SIC Insurance PLC is a publicly listed company in which the government holds a minority stake of approximately one-third, with the majority of shareholders being private and institutional investors, meaning that directing state business toward SIC does not amount to purely internal government transactions.
SIGA maintains that its oversight mandate is to safeguard state interests, promote fair competition, and retain value within its portfolio of more than 140 state-linked entities.
