Latest amongst the exposés from the Member of Parliament of North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is the sale of the premises of the Parks and Gardens to a private developer.
According to Mr. Ablakwa, Ghana’s “green belt which has been preserved since the colonial era, which the colonial masters demarcated to give us a green buffer, to have an ecosystem which is environmentally friendly” is being sold to a private developer.
He explains his revelations about the sale of the SSNIT hotels to the Agric Minister has brought many things to bear, indicating that he had calls from Parks and Gardens that their office area near the DVLA-WAEC premises, has been sold off to a private person.
Speaking with Alfred Ocansey on the KeyPoints Saturday, June 22, 2024, following the aftermath of the demonstration against the sale of the hotels Tuesday, he disclosed that “I have received calls from parks and gardens that they went to work one day and somebody shows up that he is the new owner of parks and gardens. A private developer. So they have had to initiate legal processes to protect parks and gardens.”
The development, which Mr. Ablakwa has classified as state capture, includes the sale of the four hotels belonging to SSNIT which they organised a protest against, as well as the front of the Labadi Beach Hotel which he says is being sold to a company belonging to the son of a former Chairman of the NPP, Freddie Blay.
Many have raised concerns including Organised Labour, questioning the Social Security and National Insurance Trust’s (SSNIT) decision to sell off 60 per cent of its stake in Labadi Beach Hotel, La Palm Beach Hotel, Ridge Royal Hotel, and Busua Beach Hotel to Agric Minister, Bryan Abbey Acheampong.
The matter came to limelight following a revelation by Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The disclosure has generated series of debate with many raising issues of conflict of interest, with Mr. Ablakwa adding that the MP did not secure permission from the Speaker to embark on that profitable venture which is against the provisions of Parliament.
On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, Mr. Ablakwa led a “Hands off our Hotels” demo where a petition was presented to the President to halt the sale of the hotels.
Ablakwa has also alleged that Rock City Hotels, owned by Bryan Acheampong, which the hotels are being sold to, are currently incurring losses according to the company’s financial statement he intercepted.
But Bryan Acheampong, who is also the MP for Abetifi, has promised to dash Ablakwa a house at Trassaco and a hotel in North Tongu, if he is able to prove his allegations of the company running at losses.
“If he indeed has documents that prove that Rock City Hotel filed its 2023 taxes and we are making losses, let him bring it forth. If it’s true, I have a house at Trassaco, it’s new and unused. I bought it in 2014, and I will gift it to him,” he told Nana Yaa Brefo Danso, host of Yen Nsempa on Onua FM Thursday, June 20, 2024.
“If he is able to prove that Rock City’s 2023 account is making losses, in fact, in his constituency, North Tongu, there is a hotel owned by Rock City –Akosombo Continental Hotel, –if he is able to prove it, that hotel is for Rock City, and I will give it to him as well. He should prove it,” he added.
In a recent social media post, Mr. Ablakwa has also alleged that a company belonging to the son of Freddie Blay, Spartan-Ives Limited, is among the shortlisted companies to buy a stretch of land near the Labadi Beach Hotels. Mr. Kwaw Blay, has already indicated his decision to sue the MP.
Responding to the sale of the hotels, Mr. Blay, a former Chair of the NPP said he doesn’t understand why Organised Labour is protesting in public when the Board that took the decision included their representative.
He says he would have loved to buy the sixty per cent stake in the four SSNIT hotels being offered the Minister of Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, if he had the money.
“If the board says this is the way, irrespective of my individual protest or my disagreement with it, the decision that we have taken is binding on us,” he told 3FM’s Beatrice Adu.
“I would have loved to buy if I had the money because I have a good idea. My son convinced me. I don’t know on what basis they (Organized Labour) have taken their decision. SSNIT took a decision, and I don’t have any questions about that,” the Board Chair of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) said.
We need to question Freddie Blay’s interest in sale of SSNIT hotels – Ablakwa
