The Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Kofi Bosompem Osafo-Maafo, has committed to ongoing dialogue with Organised Labour and other stakeholders to enhance the Trust’s operations and investment strategies.
Osafo-Maafo emphasized SSNIT’s continued improvement and its dedication to sustaining this momentum through extensive engagement efforts.
His remarks directly responded to Organised Labour’s initiation of an industrial strike starting today [July 15], in protest against SSNIT’s sale of a 60 percent stake in four hotels to Rock City Hotel, owned by Agriculture Minister Bryan Acheampong.
Following a press conference on Friday, July 12, where Organised Labour announced an indefinite strike to oppose the transactions, SSNIT subsequently issued a notice terminating the sale amidst withdrawal threats from other unions and associations.
In an interview with Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr. Osafo-Maafo reassured Organised Labour of SSNIT’s commitment to continuous engagement with all relevant stakeholders.
“My message is very straightforward, the management and board of the Trust will continue to manage the portfolio and assets to achieve the best long-term returns. Organised Labour will be aware that we have improved and we will continue to engage and improve.”
Despite the termination of the sale process, Organised Labour affirmed its intent to sustain the strike until SSNIT’s board is dissolved.
“SSNIT’s function is to ensure social security for the population and so the leadership [of Organised Labour] recognised that the way by which the hotels were being sold was flawed and if you look at the content of the letter, we said we were not going to call off the strike until SSNIT board is dissolved,” the Deputy Secretary General of the Ghana Federation of Labour, Kenneth Koomson told Bernard Avle on Monday.