The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has voiced strong disapproval over the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) selling its 60% stake in four hotels to the Agriculture Minister.

Dr Kwabena Nyarko-Otoo, the TUC’s Director of Research and Policy, did not hold back during an interview on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, stating, "We will not sit idle for this to just pass. Besides all the technicalities, we think that it undermines governance."

He further added, "There's something wrong with governments. When politicians at the helm of affairs at SSNIT, appointed by the president, can only find another politician within the government set-up who has presented a so-called technically superior proposal, there's something not right with it."

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), has explained its decision to sell a 60% stake in four of its hotels to Rock City Hotel, owned by Bryan Acheampong.

In a statement issued on Sunday, May 19, SSNIT explained that Rock City Hotel Limited submitted the best and strongest technical and financial proposal among the bids received, meeting the criteria set out in the Request for Proposals (RFP).

According to SSNIT, the selection process was transparent and strictly adhered to the Public Procurement Act.

Read more: Don’t play ‘chaskele’ with pension funds; stop sale of hotels to Bryan Acheampong – TUC warns

The Trust emphasised that there was no favouritism involved in selecting Rock City Hotel Limited.

SSNIT explained that the decision to partner with an investor was initiated to raise capital for further investments in their hotels and to enhance their management. 

However, Dr Nyarko-Otoo was emphatic that the TUC sees everything wrong with such a deal.   

“There’s no way we will allow one part of the government to sell SSNIT assets to another part of the government or individuals in there. We assure workers that we will do everything in our power to make sure that this deal is stopped,” he stated.

“If you go back into the history of SSNIT, we have had too many attempts and sometimes successful ones by SSNIT to dispose of its assets to groups and individuals under a very controversial circumstance.

Read more: TUC demands majority representation on SSNIT board to shoot down Bryan Acheampong and other deals

"We will also ensure that this thing does not happen in future and that means we need to strengthen our representation on this state institution, particularly SSNIT, to ensure we can arrest some of these issues on time so we don’t get to the point we currently are," he added.

When asked whether TUC wants more members on the SSNIT board or for the institution to be strengthened, he said they want both.

He explained that "Beyond more members even if there's a vote the people whose money is in there are not outnumbered by government appointees.

"We also want technically strong people who understand all these investment decisions, and at the very least can or halt the process even at the board level."