The Minister for Food and Agriculture and Member of Parliament for Abetifi Constituency, Bryan Acheampong, who is the owner of Rock City Hotels Limited, has refuted allegations made by North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, suggesting wrongdoing in Rock City’s proposal to purchase 60% of shares in SSNIT’s four hotels.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show on Tuesday, May 21, the Abetifi MP expressed his disappointment in his colleague’s stance, which is that Ghanaians are being short-changed in the transaction.
Mr Ablakwa hinted at sending a new petition to the Speaker of Parliament, as he believes the MP violated sections of the Constitution by failing to seek the Speaker’s permission to engage in a profit-making venture.
But according to Mr Acheampong, he does not receive salary or benefits from the company he owns as a non-Executive Director.
“There is a big difference between Bryan Acheampong and Rock City Hotel. Rock City has its own boss, management who make decisions on the day-to-day running of the company. I own the company, proudly.
“I am a non-Executive Director of Rock City. But if you are registering at Registrar General, they don’t give you this qualification. You just have to bring two Directors and so definitely I am one of the directors but in terms of the functions, I am not a part of it.
“I don’t take any salary or emoluments. I don’t participate in anything. I am the vision-bearer. I don’t receive any salary or benefits, they pay SSNIT of close to about 500 staff, you can check if I am one of them,” he said.
He cautioned the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, against defaming his company.
“You are just adding things together and trying to destroy me and trying to destroy Rock City. It is most unfair, it is ‘un-Ghanaian’ and you should stop it,” he told Mr Ablakwa who was also on the Super Morning Show.
This development follows days after the NDC MP petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to halt the sale of four hotels to RockCity, of which Mr. Acheampong is one of the two directors.
Mr. Ablakwa, in his petition, alleged that intercepted documents indicate that negotiations to sell 60% of the shares of the six SSNIT hotels to the minister’s RockCity Hotel Limited “are far advanced.”
He is seeking an investigation into various allegations, including conflict of interest, abuse of power, lack of due process, procurement breaches, cronyism, and graft.
The hotels under scrutiny in the petition include Labadi Beach Hotel, La Palm Royal Beach Resort, Elmina Beach Resort, Ridge Royal Hotel, Busua Beach Resort, and the Trust Lodge Hotel.
Mr. Bryan Acheampong has dismissed all the claims made by his colleague. He explained that he is separate from Rock City as a corporate entity and that as a non-executive director of the hotel, he does not need to seek a certificate of clearance from the Speaker, as he has always been in business before becoming a public official.
“If you have issues with a corporate entity, ask questions. I will never stop you and nobody will stop you from asking questions but in the tangent that you [Okudzeto Ablakwa] are going, it has nothing to do with that.
“I am a politician and I can be okay with it… but note that you are not speaking the truth and CHRAJ will confirm all this to you,” he told the outspoken MP.
Mr. Ablakwa is confident that he will be vindicated and the matters will be fairly settled after the investigations by CHRAJ.
He also mentioned that his suspicion is further strengthened by the fact that Rock City Hotels purchased 25% of SSNIT shares in the Regency Hotel in Kumasi in 2022 at a lower amount.
However, Mr. Bryan Acheampong disagreed with this claim, insisting that Rock City got the shares for a good value that benefited his business and the state.
“Rock City tells me and SSNIT has also confirmed that they had several negotiation meetings. One of the minutes is what Mr. Okudzeto has. In the final negotiations that they reached an agreement, the agreement is what Rock City fulfilled and for an asset that for 30 years has not returned one cedi to SSNIT pensioners, it is of value to SSNIT that they check out of that transaction,” he explained.