Kofi Bosompem Osafo-Maafo, the Director General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), has clarified the circumstances surrounding the rejection of payment terms from Rock City, the preferred bidder in the sale of 60% of the Trust’s stake in four hotels.
Osafo-Maafo in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show (CBS) on Citi FM with Bernard Avle addressed the issue amidst rising tensions and the announcement of a potential strike by 11 labour groups.
He emphasised that Rock City’s proposed payment terms were not acceptable to SSNIT’s management and board, despite the company being initially chosen as the preferred bidder.
Osafo-Maafo stated, “One of the points to make very clear, and I don’t think that it is very clear in the dispatches, although we mentioned it explicitly in our press conference, is that the preferred bidder was chosen, which was Rock City. We went into a negotiation process; it was the management and board of SSNIT that rejected the terms of payment.”
He further explained that the negotiation process with Rock City aimed to reach mutually acceptable payment terms. However, during this period, both the unions and SSNIT management collectively expressed their disapproval of the terms of payment, extending their objection to the entire process. This collective disapproval led to the termination of the negotiation process.
Osafo-Maafo added, “The terms of payment, obviously, 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. That should start a process of engagement, which I outlined earlier, and think we have arrived at the point where all parties have found it in their interest to terminate the process. We now need to go back to the drawing board and find a new solution to the problem of a non-performing assert.”
