Naa Ayele Ardayfio Sekyere, a senior officer in charge of Public Relations for the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has bemoaned the attempt to reduce to politics, the sale of SSNIT’s assets to the Minister of Agric, Bryan Acheampong.
She says there should be consensus on the pensions some workers receive at the end of their service to the nation, indicating the trade of accusations will not solve the matter.
Her comments stem from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust’s (SSNIT) decision to sell off 60% of its stake in four of its hotels across the country to private entity, Rock City Hotels, which belongs to the Minister.
Commenting on the issue on TV3’s KeyPoints Saturday, May 25, 2024, Amidu Issahaku Chinnia, a Deputy Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, were trading accusations.
According to the Deputy Minister, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), whilst in power, rejected a US$91million bid and sold Merchant Bank for US$44million, something Mr. Chinnia says Okudzeto didn’t protest at the time.
Madam Ardayfio, who visibly appeared livid over the development indicated that it was the pensions of the Ghanaian worker that should be the focus rather than trading accusations.
She noted that some politicians come to power to purposely grab state assets at the expense of the citizenry.
“We need to ask the questions because I think sometimes people come into public service poor and then when they are leaving office, they are so filled and so corrupt, en-cankering everything in their way. So don’t let us reduce this discussion to politics. Let us look into pensions funds. People take GHC400 at the end of the month, isn’t that a big deal? And so for me if we have to sit here and trade accusations, –this party did this, this party did that, I’m sorry it’s not on,” she expressed.
Meanwhile, the private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, reacting to the development on the same show indicated that the Merchant Bank matter was sent to court, and the court did not uphold the position of Kofi Bentil and others who objected to the sale.
He stated there was a reason the court did not uphold the position of the petitioners despite the rejected offer being higher than what was approved.
Background
The sale of the assets came to light after the National Democratic Congress MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, raised an alarm about it.
The MP has since petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) calling for an investigation into various allegations, including “conflict of interest, abuse of power, lack of due process, procurement breaches, cronyism, and graft.”
In his petition, Mr Ablakwa highlights what he views as violations of constitutional provisions, specifically citing Articles 78(3) and 98(2) of the 1992 Constitution. He contends that these actions represent significant breaches of legal and ethical standards.
Subsequently, both SSNIT and the Abetifi MP have come out to defend the transaction, describing the partnership as strategic and in the best interest of all.
