SSNIT Hotels Will Not Be Sold –DG

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Kwesi Afreh Biney, Director General of SSNIT

Hotels owned by the Social Security and National Investment Trust (SSNIT) will not be sold, the new management has assured Ghanaians.

The Director General, Kwesi Afreh Biney, who gave the assurance on Thursday, October 30, 2025 at the Trust’s engagement with the media, indicated that the hotels are doing well.

According to him, selling the hotels would not be favourable to the long-term interest of the Trust and its contributors.

Citing Labadi Beach Hotel, one of its investments in the hospitality industry, Mr Afreh Biney noted that it continues to deliver good returns.

He said, “I can tell you that we will not sell our hotels, that I can assure you. Look, Labadi [Beach Hotel] paid us dividends. In fact, this year, Labadi is yet to pay for 2024. But in 2023 we’ve already paid GH¢8 million.

“Another GH¢8 million is coming for 2023. That’s not a hotel you’re going to sell. They (Labadi) are arguably the best F&B (food and beverage) hotel in Ghana. Why would you want to sell it for the price at which it was being sold?”

While mentioning that Elmina Beach Hotel would require a fresh capital injection, he also said that La Palm [Royal Beach Hotel] clearly needs some redevelopment.

“And we are in conversations in that regard. It may require some partnerships, but we will not sell this hotel,” he added.

The DG, who took over this year, following the change in government, was answering questions posed by journalists at the Thursday media encounter as part of SSNIT’s 60-year anniversary celebration.

One of the questions was an update on the attempted sale of these hotels, which was resisted by citizens and whether or not the issue was still on the table of SSNIT.

CONTROVERSY

The previous managers of the Trust faced the wrath of Ghanaians when news broke of attempts to sell four hotels of the Trust. They planned to sell about 60% of its shares in the four hotels to a private investor, Rock City Hotel Limited, owned by former Minister for Food and Agriculture Bryan Acheampong.

The move, which ignited nationwide uproar, also saw organisedlabour joining the protest, arguing that such state assets could not be sold, a position that saw the deal botched.

PROGRESS

The engagement afforded SSNIT the platform to tell its story to the media in a bid to strengthen its public relations. Over the years, SSNIT has ensured that the public could access its service with ease, therefore, has collaborated with banks across the country to have their desk there.

The DG, who said this, added that SSNIT was leveraging digital platforms to make it convenient for customers to access all services of the Trust even at the comfort of their homes, using the mobile app, website or the USSD code.

It was the firm position of SSNIT, and same demonstrated that, workers are better off contributing to the Trust for their pension, than to rely on treasury bills.

With 33 members in 1966, SSNIT at the moment has about four million members, but 2.9 million active members, with over 257,000 being pensioners on payroll.

According to SSNIT, it has paid about GH¢5.1 billion as of this month, October, which ends today.

Speaking on the sustainability of the Trust, the DG said SSNIT would continue to evolve, adding that the public should trust SSNIT and contribute to it towards their pension.

He also urged companies and business owners to ensure prompt payment of their contributions in order not to incur penalties.

At 60 years, SSNIT said it has evolved from manual to digital, from process to people-centeredness, and its impact is national, while it continues to transform.

The Trust is looking to improve upon its partnerships with workers, employers, labour unions, contributors and civil society organisations as it pursues inclusion, innovation and integrity.

 

 

 

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