Akufo-Addo defends SSNIT Hotel sale and calls protests 'unnecessary '

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has dismissed as unnecessary the controversy surrounding the sale of 60% of the Social Security National Insurance Trust's (SSNIT) four hotels to Rock City Hotels, owned by Agricultural Minister Bryan Acheampong. 

He was speaking at the 12th quadrennial delegates conference of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on Tuesday August 20, 2024. 

“The improved performance of SSNIT which recently in all successes [led to] GHC230m on its operations. This should be reassuring to organised labour and perhaps bring into sharper relief the unnecessary controversy that was recently generated by SSNIT’s efforts to offload non-performing assets in its hotel portfolio.”

“It is my understanding that the transaction that was aborted represented the only occasion in the recent history of SSNIT that external investors sought to invest in SSNIT holdings.

“All of us need to be measured when it comes to making decisions and pronouncements that would affect the long-term interests of pensioners,” he stated.

The decision to sell off the SSNIT hotels generated strong criticism, particularly from North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and organized labour, who saw it as a distressed sale to a government appointee.

This sparked a widespread protest and calls for a shake-up of SSNIT's board members.

The move was later abandoned after Organised Labour threatened a nationwide strike.

Source : Lead News Online