ABLAKWA: Hands Off Our Hotels

The “Hands Off Our Hotels” demonstration, spearheaded by North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has kicked off with protesters converging at the Labadi Beach Hotel.

The demonstration, which took place on Tuesday, June 18,2024, aimed to pressure the government into halting the sale of 60 percent shares in four hotels owned by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT). The proposed buyer is Rock City Hotel, a company owned by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong.

The hotels involved in this contentious sale include the Labadi Beach Hotel, La Palm Royal Beach Resort, Elmina Beach Resort, and the Busua Beach Resort.

“Why is it that SSNIT is not interested in selling STC and nobody in the Akuffo Addo-Bawumia cabinet is interested in buying STC? That alone should tell you that this sale has got nothing to do with someone coming to save non-performing state assets.

As we speak, according to the financial statement that we now have, conducted by Deloitte, Labadi beach hotel is so profitable. And yet the company coming to save this Hotels is making loses”, Ablakwa bluntly stated.

The protest convenor, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, argued that selling state assets to government officials represents a blatant abuse of power and must be stopped.

During the protest march, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa urged President Akufo-Addo to intervene and stop the sale of the hotels.

“The demonstrations may continue if we don’t hear from President Akufo-Addo in the next few hours after the demonstration saying that they are backing off this transaction then we will have to continue.

“We may go to the Central Region where very iconic hotels like Ridge Royal and Elmina Resort are and then remember that Busia Lodge and Trust Lodge are under attack,” Ablakwa warned.

The protesters held placards which read, “Blay and sons return our beach, Bryan don’t be a thief, Bryan you are a bad boy, Hands of our hotels, they are stealing our future, pensioners deserve better, the SSNIT board must be dissolved among others.

They emphasized that profitable state assets should never be sold and that the government must not sell workers’ properties without their permission and consent. The group believes that the Labadi Beach Hotel and Ridge Royal Hotel are more profitable than Bryan Acheampong’s Rock City Hotel.

“State assets should not be sold to Bryan Acheampong and all politically exposed persons. There should not be deliberate run down of state assets for politicians to benefit from them”, MrAblakwa demands.

Prior to the protest, Mr. Ablakwa voiced concerns about a potential conflict of interest, but Bryan Acheampong, the Minister of Food and Agriculture and owner of Rock City Hotel, defended himself against these claims.

Acheampong explained that although he owns Rock City Hotel, he is not engaged in its daily operations or decision-making processes. He emphasized his distance from the hotel’s day-to-day management and decisions.

“I wish to state that there is a difference between Bryan Acheampong and Rock City. I own the company. I am the vision bearer and that is what I have tasked them with. Occasionally, I check on the progress being made with the vision. Rock city pays contributions of about 1,000 staff to SSNIT. You can check whether my name is on that list. I am not a director. I don’t take daily decisions for the company. I am a non-executive director” he said on Accra-based Joy FM on May 21.

He therefore denied any wrongdoing. “There is no breach” MrAcheampong said.

On the other hand, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) also denied any foul play in its decision to sell a 60% stake in its hotels to Rock City Hotel.

According to SSNIT, the strategy to partner with an investor to raise capital to invest in their hotels, and also assist in their management, started as far back as 2018 through International Competitive Tendering (ICT) processes as prescribed by the Public Procurement Act.

But Mr. Ablakwa, who has also filed a petition with the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) for an investigation, aims to halt the sale and bring attention to what he describes as “state capture.”