Ghana's Information Minister, Fatimatu Abubakar has waded into the controversy surrounding the proposed sale of 60% of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT)'s stake in four hotels to MP and Minister of Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong’s Rock City Hotels Limited.

The young minister believes the deal will aid in restructuring SSNIT and facilitate its recovery suggesting that it would be unfair to overlook Mr Bryan Acheampong's competence in managing hotels, his financial capacity and business experience merely because he's a public officeholder.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Multimedia Group Limited aimed at engaging the Ministry’s stakeholders and outlining current programmes being implemented, the Minister urged the public to view the owner of Rock City Hotels not merely as a Cabinet Minister, but as a dedicated Ghanaian investor committed to enhancing these properties and supporting SSNIT's growth.

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"If there was a decision over five years by the fund managers that we want to diverse, let us get other people who are able to inject capital so that these facilities are revamped and fixed in such a way that they are competitive and generate more revenue, it is a good thing to do," she stressed.

The assertion follows concerns raised about a potential conflict of interest in the transaction. This development has ignited extensive criticism, with North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa filing a petition with the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

Mr Ablakwa’s petition seeks an investigation into various allegations, including conflict of interest, abuse of power, lack of due process, procurement breaches, cronyism, and graft.

But the Information Minister insists that the Agric Minister has a good track record when it comes to revamping and managing hotel facilities.

• Read also: SSNIT hotels bid: The main concern should be whether there was value for money in Rock City deal – Osei-Owusu

"It is also interesting that people have forgotten that Rock City is now known as one of the biggest hotel facilities in the sub-region.

"Is it only because this person is politically exposed, so all of a sudden his credit score is not taken into consideration, his financial capacity that precedes his political office and even precedes his coming into office as an MP, it means nothing. Because he ha become a cabinet minister, the portfolio affects his work retrospectively and all other business interests and engagements that he has must cease? Let us look at it again.