Josiah
Nana Ohene Ntow, a campaign aide for the Movement for Change, has expressed shock at the government’s failure to halt the controversial sale of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) hotels to Rock City Hotel.
Nana Ohene Ntow questioned the government’s reluctance to cancel the sale despite widespread public opposition. He argued passionately against the sale of Labadi Beach Hotel, emphasizing its consistent profitability and making a strong case for its exclusion from privatization.
Nana Ohene Ntow pointed out that Labadi Beach Hotel is a performing asset and criticized its sale to a cabinet minister as improper. “I think whatever the procedure may be, a state agency selling to a cabinet minister is improper. I’m not saying it’s illegal or unconstitutional, I’m saying it is not proper, and it doesn’t sit well… It doesn’t make sense that the hotels are all loss-making. The facts on the ground don’t support that position. At least not for Labadi Hotel.
“The information I have, and when I checked, is that in 2022, Labadi Hotel declared a dividend of GHC25 million to the sole shareholder SSNIT.”
He stressed, “TUC has waded into this matter because it involves workers’ monies and pensions. How can the government divest itself of an investment that is financed by workers’ contributions into a public pension fund? And the government decides not to listen, I find that very strange. I find a defense of that kind of transaction not acceptable to the people of Ghana. At least the Labadi Beach Hotel is a performing asset. And if it is a performing asset, then it’s completely improper for the government under any circumstance to try and divest it into private hands. Here is a cabinet minister of state, with one leg in government, and one leg in business. That is already controversial.”
Nana Ohene Ntow urged President Nana Akufo-Addo to intervene in the controversial sale of Labadi Beach Hotel by heeding the public’s sentiments and protecting state assets.
“I think that public decency requires that if the government is dealing with public funds, pension funds, workers’ funds, and at least the TUC has spoken. I think the government must listen. The government must unpack the whole transaction properly.
“If the public is giving you such a reaction, I don’t think the government or SSNIT should insist. SSNIT should listen to the sentiments of workers, their representatives, and citizens of this land.
“If nothing at all, I think the President should intervene in this matter. The government must take a closer look at this matter,” he opined.
Source:Omanghana.com
