Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of parliament for North Tongu, has declared that he will resist any government official who tries to obtain public assets, regardless of whether the individual is a member of his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Okudzeto Ablakwa claimed to have initiated an opposition state takeover sixteen years prior, having sued the late Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, the former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), for purchasing state properties.
Okudzeto Ablakwa sends warning to NDC
On Wednesday, June 19, he stated, “This will be my position even if the person is a member of my party,” on TV3's New Day program.
Okudzeto Ablakwa further told the Director of Communications of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, that Agriculture Minister Bryan Acheampong is caught in a conflict of interest situation in the move to acquire the hotels belonging to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).
Okudzeto Ablakwa said, per the records, that Bryan Acheampong was a Minister of State when the process to acquire the hotels started.
“Bryan Acheampong was a minister of state in 2018 in Akufo-Addo’s first term, he was minister when this traction began, according to SSNIT. Articles 284, 78 have been breached violently,” he said on the New Day show on TV3 on Wednesday, June 19.
Prior to his comment, Ahiagbah had said that a conflict of interest did not arise in the sale of the hotels Bryan Acheampong for which Ablakwa petitioned the Commission on Huan Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to look into the matter.
Mr Ahiagbah said that conflict of interest does not arise because the process to offload SSNIT’s interests in these hotels started in 2018, 5 years before Bryan Acheampong became the Minister for Food and Agriculture.
Samuel Okudzeto has been raising issues against the move to sell the hotels to Minister of Food and Agriculture Bryan Acheampong.
Okudzeto Ablakwa has petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice over this matter.
On Monday, June 18, he also organized a demonstration against the move.
Mr. Ablakwa said earlier, “This demonstration becomes crucial because of the latest intercepted documents, which reveal that SSNIT is proceeding with the transaction despite my CHRAJ complaint and the palpable public outrage.”
But in a statement on his X platform reacting to the demonstration, Mr. Ahiagbah said, “The crux of the matter is the ability of SSNIT or any state institution to fulfill its mandate independently.
Hon. Ablakwa’s concern with the hotel transaction is that SSNIT, as an independent institution, should not be allowed to pursue the outcome of the procurement process to offload its shares in the stated hotels because Rock City, which belongs to Bryan Acheampong, won the bid.
“From the records, SSNIT has put out so far, the processes leading to the settlement on Rock City have been above board.
However, because Bryan Acheampong, the Minister for Food and Agriculture’s company, Rock City, won the bid, it should be scrapped by hook or crook. So, what if another company had won the bid? Would Hon. Ablakwa have accepted that outcome?
“The question of conflict of interest for me does not arise because the process to offload SSNIT’s interests in these hotels started in 2018, 5 years before Hon. Bryan Acheampong became the Minister for Food and Agriculture. Again, the question must be asked:
Had SSNIT terminated the procurement process to divest its shares to Rock City between 2019 and 2023 before Bryan Acheampong became a minister, would there have been any concerns or issues of conflict of interest?”
