The Ghana Federation of Labour has responded to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) justification by selling its 60% shares in four of its hotels to Rock City Hotel, owned by Bryan Acheampong, the Minister of Agriculture.
The Federation is alleging that the transactional advisor who assessed the various bids gave a damming evaluation of Rock City; hence, it makes no financial sense to sell the hotels to them.
Management of SSNIT has maintained that its decision to partner with an investor is to raise capital to invest in their hotels and also assist in their management, which started as far back as 2018 through International Competitive Tendering (ICT) processes as prescribed by the Public Procurement Act.
The process SSNIT explained went through transparent processes, and based on the criteria set out in the RFP, Rock City Hotel submitted the best and strongest technical and financial proposal amongst those received.
It is in negotiation with SSNIT to buy a 60% stake in each of the four (4) hotels (Labadi Beach Hotel, La Palm Royal Beach Resort, Ridge Royal Hotel, and Elmina Beach Resort).
The transaction has, however, stalled because SSNIT has disagreed with Rock City over its payment terms.
Reacting to this, the Secretary General of the Ghana Federation of Labour, Mr. Abraham Koomson, said Rock City lacks the capacity to purchase the hotels.
SSNIT’s own evaluation report said terrible things about Rock City. Its payment plan or terms are terrible, and so I don’t know why SSNIT wants to still go ahead with the sales.
As a Federation, our main concern is that SSNIT should not sell the hotels to anyone. They should neither sell to Rock City Hotel nor any other firm, he said.
Speaking in an interview on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, Mr. Koomson asserted that the problems confronting these hotels are purely managerial.
He stated that the hotels lack competent and credible managers to put in efforts to maximise profits.
SSNIT, he opined, cannot complain of lacking resources to invest in its hotels, and if they are not making profits or the hotels are not paying dividends, it ought to sack the current managers and bring in new people to manage the hotels.
“The transaction advisor contacted to assess the bidders in their report disclosed that Rock City does not have what it takes. Their payment terms were not the best. They cannot afford to buy the shares that are up for sale,” he stressed.
He warned that if SSNIT decides to go ahead and refuse to listen to stakeholders and sell the hotels, there will be confusion in the country.
“Tell them to rescind their decision to sell the hotels. If they joke with it and go ahead to sell the hotels, there would be confusion in Ghana. The decision to sell the hotels will place the sscheme under threat and jeopardise the lives of contributors, especially those on retirement.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
