Page 19 - FOL2023

Corporate Governance

Corporate Governance and State-

Owned Companies: A focus on the Lesotho

National Development Corporation Act of 1990

as regards the appointment and dismissal of

Chief Executive Officers

By: Judge Moroke Mokhesi

Introduction

The value of state ownership of businesses cannot be overemphasised, and as Korin Kane and Hans
Christiansen observed:

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are assets that the government manages on behalf of citizens.
Ensuring that these assets create value for society, and are managed professionally and transparently,
is a cornerstone of sound public governance and a precondition for creating trust in governments and
markets.
Sound governance of SOEs is important for development for a number of reasons. First, in many
developing economies, SOEs are the sole providers of public services (e.g., water and electricity provision,
telecommunications, and postal services). Second, bearing in mind that many developing economies

20 FOL Quarterly Issue 2022