The Ghana Federation of Labour has reported that the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) is continuing discussions to sell its stake in four hotels to Rock City Hotel, owned by the Minister of Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, despite an ongoing petition before the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

This development was revealed shortly after the Minority in Parliament, led by North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and representatives of organized labour staged a protest urging the government to halt the transaction.

In an interview with JoyNews, Secretary General of the Ghana Federation of Labour, Abraham Koomson, expressed his dismay at SSNIT’s persistence.

“They have not stopped it. You know how things work in this country. For CHRAJ, how soon will they finish this? CHRAJ cannot injure the process, I don’t think they can do that. They don’t have that authority to injunct the process so they will still go ahead and do what they want to do.”

Koomson added that the Federation would boycott an upcoming meeting with the President to show their displeasure.

“We are going to meet and discuss what? What we are saying is that stop the process. They should not continue, they should wait or stop it. That is all. We are going to meet him so he tells us what? I will not be part of it. I won’t go there. I won’t go.

“I don’t know what I am going there to discuss. It is as simple as telling the Employment Minister that ‘look, make sure this whole process is stopped’,” he stressed.

In May, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa exposed the deal, questioning why SSNIT would sell 60% of its stake in the hotels to a minister. While some government officials and citizens defended Acheampong, arguing he could revitalize the hotels, Ablakwa remained skeptical.

Ablakwa emphasized the lack of evidence supporting Acheampong’s ability to enhance the performance of the state-owned hotels, some of which are already profitable. He further criticized Acheampong for not using his expertise for the public good while serving as a cabinet minister.

“… If you have such great ideas to transform hotels, Bryan Acheampong sits in Cabinet. Why do we send people to Cabinet? Under the constitution, Cabinet is a place where you brainstorm and bring your expertise and know-how to bear. So why will you only bring your expertise to bear when it is your private property when you have bought it, when you have annexed it and it is within your private domain?

“Is that the only time you will bring that expertise to bear? Is that not unpatriotic? Is that not callousness?” he questioned.

He continued, “That is not being nationalistic. Why then are we paying you as a cabinet minister? It means we shouldn’t pay you, you shouldn’t be in Cabinet. This is the height of wickedness,” he noted.