Why should I be discussing hotels when tomato prices are rising? – Bryan Acheampong

Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong has expressed his frustration, having to defend the involvement of his hotel in a public bid, when the country is grappling with weightier matters like the escalating prices of tomatoes and other food items on the market.

The minister has come under public scrutiny on allegations of conflict of interest over the involvement of his hotel, the Rock City Hotel in a public bid to acquire a 60% stake in four hotels owned by the state pensions provider, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT),

A mammoth demonstration was staged by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to protest SSNIT’s insistence that it did nothing wrong tipping Rock City Hotel out of eight bidders, as the most preferred company which provided the best technical and financial muscle for the tender.

The protest which was joined by indigenes of La and organized labour took it out hard on the Nana Akufo Addo administration accusing it of allocating state property to politically exposed persons, cronies and party functionaries.

The MP further insisted that Rock City Hotel had made losses amounting to some 1.7 million cedis; questioning the capacity of the company to have won the bid to acquire majority stake in some SSNIT Hotels which were posting decent profits.

Responding to these allegations however, the agric minister who doubles as MP for Abetifi described the assertions as a baseless distraction coming at a time when his office is saddled with rising food prices.

“The last thing I want to do is in the face of rising tomato prices, my voice is on the radio talking about hotels.

“I stayed away from it but when the young man was now moving into the realms of lies, and more lies and more lies, hoping that Ghanaians will believe him, then we have to stop him in his tracks,” he stated.

True to the minister’s difficulties; tomato prices have shot through the roof with four going for as high as twenty cedis in some markets.

Rock City Losses

Challenging documents Okudzeto Ablakwa purported to have intercepted from the Ghana Revenue Authority as proof of Rock City’s losses, Dr. Bryan Acheampong insisted that managers of Rock City Hotel were yet to file its 2023 annual return with the GRA.

He indicated that auditors Deloitte & Touche had not yet concluded the audit of the company’s accounts which he divulged would be filed before a June 30th deadline.

He described the North Tongu legislator’s over-concentration on interpreting the profits and losses of companies as ignorant insisting the prospects of businesses go beyond the mere face value of such accounts.

“If the sponsors of Rock City decide that they will put their money behind Rock City to acquire other interests, what does it mean? When you go into that realm, you are exposing yourself as someone who has not done business before?”

Conflict of Interest

Bryan Acheampong argued that he had stayed clear of any position of profit in his private establishments after becoming a Member of Parliament and refrained from lobbying for government offers.

He insisted that the claims of conflict of interest could not be grounded as the bid was filed in February 2022 at which time he was not a cabinet minister.

“I make sure I stay away, I am not a manager, I don’t occupy any office of profit, I know those lines and I walk them. I will not behave like that,” he noted.

Meanwhile, organized labour has sent a clear message to government to halt the planned sale of 60% of SSNIT’s interests in the four hotels – Labadi Beach Hotel, La Palm Royal Beach Resort, Elmina Beach Resort and Ridge Royal Hotel.