Minister
Ignatius
Baffour
Awuah
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The
Minister
of
Employment
and
Labour
Relations,
Ignatius
Baffour
Awuah,
has
said
the
National
Pensions
Regulatory
Authority
(NPRA)
has
approved
the
sale
of
60%
of
SSNIT’s
shares
in
its
hotel
investment
portfolio.
This
follows
a
directive
from
the
NPRA
on
June
28
ordering
SSNIT
to
suspend
its
negotiations
with
Rock
City
over
the
sale
of
four
hotels,
pending
further
evaluation
and
engagement.
However,
answering
questions
on
the
floor
of
Parliament
on
Thursday,
July
11,
Mr.
Awuah
confirmed
that
NPRA
has
given
the
go
ahead
for
the
hotels
to
be
sold
after
the
Authority
was
satisfied
that
SSNIT
has
complied
with
all
due
processes.
NPRA
directs
suspension
of
sale
of
SSNIT
hotels
as
it
conducts
full
scale
probe
into
the
matter
He
said
the
directive
from
the
NPRA
was
only
to
ensure
that
SSNIT
had
complied
with
all
the
processes
and
documentation
and
not
to
completely
prevent
SSNIT
from
selling
the
hotels.
“Yes,
it
is
true
that
NPRA
came
up
with
a
directive,
but
I
would
appreciate
it
if
my
brother,
my
colleague,
really
read
the
directive
from
NPRA.
It
said
it
needed
to
be
furnished
with
all
information
relating
to
the
sale
of
the
hotels,
which
SSNIT
has
since
done
that.
“So,
it
wasn’t
like
a
direct
something
that
SSNIT
should
not
go
ahead
to
do
anything,
but
then,
SSNIT
can
only
go
ahead
when
NPRA,
which
is
the
regulator
within
the
field,
had
actually
certified
that
they
have
seen
all
the
documentation
and
the
processes,
and
they
think
that
we
are
good
to
go.
“Yes,
so,
as
a
minister,
I
can
tell
you
tell
you
on
authority
that
NPRA
has
since
indicated
that
they
have
seen
the
processes,
and
they
think
that
SSNIT
can
go
ahead.”
Mr.
Awuah
further
outlined
some
reasons
for
the
sale
of
SSNIT’s
60
percent
shares
in
the
hotels.
“SSNIT
considered
only
the
sale
of
shares
for
its
hotel
investment
portfolio
as
a
strategic
decision
after
multiple
attempts
at
restructuring
proved
insufficient.
“70-60%
of
its
shares
are
deemed
the
most
viable
solution
to
prevent
further
depletion
of
resources
and
to
bring
in
private
participation.”
“Is
it
a
good
business
activity?
Yes,
I
want
to
believe
my
colleague
is
listening
to
me
fully,
well
because
I
answered
by
saying
that
some
of
the
investments
are
either
making
low
returns
or
making
losses.
“So
it
is
not
in
all
cases
that
we
are
making
losses,
but
even
for
those
that
are
making
profits,
the
rate
of
returns
is
lower.”