The Secretary General of the Ghana Federation of Labour, Abraham Koomson, has criticised the plan to sell off a 60% stake in four hotels belonging to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to Rock City hotel owned by the Food and Agriculture Minister, Bryan Acheampong.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Newsfile, Mr Koomson suggested that instead of selling these profitable state assets to Mr Acheampong, the government should consider appointing him to manage the hotels if he is deemed competent.
“Why do you sell national assets? Why should we sell such hotels in these prime areas? For what? For how much?” he quizzed in anger.
“If Bryan Acheampong has the capacity to run and operate the SSNIT hotels, why don’t we employ him? Instead of selling the hotels to him, he should be appointed as CEO to run the hotels for us,” he said on Saturday.
Mr Koomson highlighted the financial stability of SSNIT, pointing out that the institution has a steady inflow of contributions and does not face capital shortages.
“SSNIT can’t complain about money because every month they need not go anywhere to go and look for a loan or whatever, the inflow from the contributions just comes in. If you are an employer and you default payment, you’d be in trouble. So SSNIT cannot complain of capital,” he argued.
The labour leader also emphasised the ownership of SSNIT by workers, noting that the government does not contribute to the fund. He called for an amendment to the National Pensions Act to protect workers’ assets.
In a previous interview with Joy News, Mr Abraham Koomson accused the leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of neglecting their members’ interests, and vowed not to join them in meeting President Akufo-Addo to discuss the issue and other general labour concerns.
“I will not join them to meet the President because I suspect them,” he told Evans Mensah on PM Express.
Despite SSNIT’s denial of any foul play, TUC insisted that the sale must be cancelled for broader consultations.
In May, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, blew the whistle on the deal and raised concerns about why SSNIT would sell 60% of its stake in the hotels to a minister of state.
Despite a petition to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) for the president to halt the sale of the hotels, the Ghana Federation of Labour has alleged that SSNIT is proceeding with talks to sell its stake in four hotels to Rock City Hotel, owned by Minister of Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong.
The hotels in question are Labadi Beach Hotel, La Palm Beach Hotel, Royal Ridge Hotel, and Busua Beach Hotel.
Aside from his petition to CHRAJ to investigate the transaction, Mr Ablakwa also led a protest against the sale that attracted various stakeholders, during which they petitioned the presidency to stop the sale.
