The Minister for Food and Agriculture and Member of Parliament for Abetifi Constituency, Bryan Acheampong, has cautioned the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa against defaming his company.
According to Mr. Acheampong, who’s also the owner of RockCity Hotels Limited, the allegations peddled by Mr Ablakwa suggesting that he’s committing any wrongdoing in the sale of SSNIT’s 60% shares in four hotels to RockCity Limited are false and baseless.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, the Abetifi MP expressed his disappointment in the stance taken by his colleague.
“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.
This comes days after the NDC MP petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to stop the sale of four hotels to RockCity, which has Mr Acheampong as one of the two directors.
Mr Ablakwa, in his petition, alleged that documents he has intercepted show 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 also 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.
Speaking on Joy SMS on Tuesday, May 21, Mr Ablakwa stressed that Ghanaians are being short-changed in the transaction.
He explained that a new petition would also be sent to the Speaker of Parliament, since the MP violated sections of the Constitution by failing to seek the Speaker’s permission to engage in a profit-making venture.
However, Mr Bryan Acheampong has rubbished all the claims made by his colleague.
He said he is separate from RockCity as a corporate entity, and that as a non-executive director, 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.
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