The
Director-General
of
the
Social
Security
and
National
Insurance
Trust
(SSNIT),
Kofi
Bosompem
Osafo-Maafo,
has
clarified
that
the
decision
to
terminate
the
sale
of
the
Trust’s
60
percent
stake
in
four
hotels
to
Rock
City
Hotel
was
borne
out
of
several
factors.
Mr
Osafo-Maafo
told
the
host,
Bernard
Avle
on
the
Citi
Breakfast
Show,
that
a
major
feature
of
the
transaction
was
broader
engagement
with
the
relevant
stakeholders
and
so
management
listened
to
the
diverse
objections
against
the
deal
and
decided
to
abrogate
the
process.
He
also
disclosed
that
the
unfavourable
payment
terms
by
Rock
City
Hotel
which
was
rejected
by
the
board
of
SSNIT
played
a
role
in
the
decision
to
terminate
the
deal.
“We
listened
to
the
objections
from
the
stakeholders
and
we
decided
to
terminate
the
process.
If
you
remember,
when
we
had
the
press
conference,
we
said
we
would
engage
all
the
stakeholders
and
we
have
been
doing
that
since
then.
The
unions
have
also
been
vociferous
and
we
listened
to
their
demands
and
decided
to
terminate
the
process.”
“My
team
and
I
met
with
the
unions
and
the
Labour
and
Employment
Minister
and
we
had
two
engagements
with
the
NPRA,
so
there
has
been
continuous
engagement
and
where
we
are
now,
we
are
all
seeking
the
same
objective,
which
is
to
improve
the
revenue
of
the
hotels.”
“We
went
into
a
negotiation
process;
it
was
the
management
and
board
of
SSNIT
that
rejected
the
terms
of
payment…The
terms
of
payment
were
the
subject
of
the
negotiation,
and
therefore
we
sought
to
continue
the
negotiation
to
reach
a
solution
that
was
acceptable.”
“During
that
process,
the
unions
raised
the
same
objection
that
they
were
not
in
favour
of
the
terms
of
payment,
and
indeed,
they
extended
that
they
were
not
in
favour
at
all.
He
added
that
the
process
of
divesting
SSNIT’S
shares
in
the
hotels
did
not
start
under
his
tenure
as
reported
but
as
far
back
as
2010.
“We
don’t
think
that
we
left
it
too
late,
there
were
businesses
that
we
have
had
since
2010.
This
process
started
as
far
back
as
2010,
when
the
board
invited
in
investors
and
then
in
2017
and
then
in
2018
the
board
directed
that
we
go
in
to
find
strategic
investors
and
the
process
traveled
through
to
2022.”
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