Dr. Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, the government's spokesperson for governance and security, has criticised the North Tongu MP for politicising the Social Security and National Insurance Trust's (SSNIT) choices to sell majority ownership in several of its hotels.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa's protests, according to Dr. Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, are not only mired in politics but also contradict the principles of good governance and the meticulous procedures that SSNIT undertook in order to make its ruling.

 He said that SSNIT “After following the proper procedures were able to hire initial transaction consultants and send out invitations to anyone interested in purchasing any of these three lots of hotels."

"The process was overseen by a steering committee, including the board chairs of all these hotels and members from the management board.

“My main issue is that, while my brother Ablakwa has brought up several concerns regarding the deal, he hasn't contested the steps used to reach the Rock City settlement. There were six bidders in total, and it was determined that Rock City had the highest bid.”

“The notion that it is inappropriate because it is Rock City is, in my opinion, something we are surrendering in the name of corporate governance. In reality, though, what is being compromised here is the goal of sound governance”, Dr. Palgrave Boakye-Danquah emphasized.

He maintained that it is dishonest to say that Rock City Hotel won the bid because Bryan Acheampong, the Minister of Agriculture, owns it, given that the hotel was already in the bidding process years before he was appointed minister.

 According to Dr. Boakye-Danquah, members of the committee tasked with supervising the sale included organised labour representatives and the board chairs of these hotels.

“How is it that Rock City's proposal was accepted if, in accordance with the Procurement Act, everything was done legally and Rock City was found to have submitted the best offer”? the Government Spokesperson on Governance quizzed.

Dr Boakye-Danquah went on to say that Mr. Ablakwa would have waited for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to wrap up its inquiry into the matter if he had been genuinely worried about anything unusual during the selection of Rock City Hotel.

“Thus, politics has now tainted the entire endeavour.

Is it a political endeavor or an attempt to correct an apparent anomaly which I am unable to see? Since the SSNIT governance mechanism which had been unleashed to decide this transaction has now been shortchanged, I now view this as a political endeavor, which makes it impossible for us to move forward.” 

He was speaking on Channel One TV over the weekend.