The Board Chair of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Elizabeth Ohene, has debunked claims that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government were involved in the decision to sell 60% shares of SSNIT hotels.
Explaining in an article titled “Coming out of the hotels”, Madam Ohene expressed surprise at the allegations made by North Tongu lawmaker, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, stating that the SSNIT Board operated independently and did not seek permission or inform the President or any government minister about the decision.
“The Board of Trustees certainly did not go to get permission or even inform the President of the Republic or any Minister about the decision to seek a strategic investor to take a stake in the hotels,” she wrote.
The Board Chair emphasized that the SSNIT Act does not require government involvement in investment decisions, adding that it is in everyone’s interest to keep the pension fund away from government interference.
She also took a swipe at Ablakwa for involving the President in his protest, saying “Obviously, a demonstration is more sexy when it ends at Jubilee House, but I assure the Honourable Member for North Tongu, he was out by a long shot.”
This clarification comes after Ablakwa led a protest against the sale of four hotels to a company owned by the Agricultural Minister Bryan Acheampong and petitioned CHRAJ to probe the transaction.
