The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, is questioning the interest of the former Chairman of the NPP, Freddie Wosemao Blay, in the sale of the four hotels belonging to SSNIT to the Agric Minister, Bryan Abbey Acheampong.
According to the MP, Mr. Blay is putting up such defence for the Trust’s decision because of a certain family interest he has.
Mr. Ablakwa has reiterated that documents available to him indicate the front of the Labadi Beach Hotel is being sold to a company belonging to his son.
Speaking on the KeyPoints Saturday, June 22, 2024, the lawmaker indicated that it becomes worrying when Mr. Blay who has no stake in SSNIT, either as Labour Minister or PRO of the Trust, defending the act as if he has been mandated to.
Ablakwa’s comments follows Mr. Blay’s assertion that SSNIT did not need the permission of Organised Labour or the traditional councils before selling off those hotels in question.
“We need to question Mr. Freddie Blay’s interest and conduct in this whole affair. Is he the Board Chair of SSNIT? Is he the spokesperson for SSNIT? Is he the Employment minister who has responsibility over the activities of SSNIT and how workers’ contributions are utilised? Why does he appear so interested in this matter, particularly when we now know, based on documents I have with me that there is a certain family interest so when consistently you are granting interviews as if speaking as though you are the PRO for SSNIT or the Board Chair for SSNIT, it is worrying,” Mr. Ablakwa told Alfred Ocansey Saturday.
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.
I would have loved to buy if I had the money- Freddie Blay on sale of SSNIT hotels
