The Social Security and National Insurance Trust’s (SSNIT) discontinuance of the sale of its 60 per cent shares in four of its hotels is a depiction of the power of the people, Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has indicated.
President Akufo-Addo refused to heed to the calls by a section of Ghanaians, including Organised Labour, to halt the sale of the hotels to Rock City Hotels, a company belonging to the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong.
This sparked conversations for some weeks, especially when the President asked Organised Labour to settle its reservations over the sale of the hotels with the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations.
Organised Labour, according to a statement it issued Friday, July 12, 2024, asked its members to strike from Monday, July 15, 2024, until the sale was aborted.
This followed a declaration by the Employment Minister, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, on the floor of Parliament Thursday, July 11, that the NPRA has asked the sale to go on after calling for its suspension few days earlier.
Following the declaration of strike, Rock City withdrew its bid to purchase the hotels, and SSNIT, has subsequently discontinued the sale.
The development, is what the North Tongu lawmaker who brought the sale to the attention of the general public, says is an indication of the power of the masses.
“Those who have had doubts about the ability of Ghanaians to get recalcitrant, intransigent, belligerent politicians to listen to the people, this is your answer, that, real power belongs to the people,” he said on the KeyPoints Saturday, July 13, 2024.
He explained that, “because on this matter, the President refused to listen, met Organised Labour, and rather sought to convince Organised Labour to come along. We filed questions in Parliament, the Minister of Employment came to tell us less than two weeks after the NPRA statement, instructing SSNIT to suspend the processes and that we were going to conduct a review. Suddenly the NPRA, according to the Employment Minister, became the most efficient organisation the world has ever known” adding that it addressed some concerns pertaining to the sale and sanctioned the process to proceed.
The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) announced its discontinuation of the sale of the 60% shares in the four hotels.
This followed an announcement by Organized Labour of a nationwide strike following approval by the National Pensions and Regulatory Authority (NPRA) for SSNIT to proceed with the sale of its 60% shares in the four hotels.
