With the noise going on about sale of state assets to private individuals, I will like to start my feature with this scenario: A private person, bought a brand-new mini bus and decided to operate a transport business. The vehicle became the soul of the family and everyone felt proud of it and loved it.
In order not to be cheated by drivers, our man decided to drive it himself. During the first few years, the bus yielded so much income and lifted up the standard of living for owner and family.
Then it begun frequent visits to mechanics and soon, it could spend days at the workshops. As time went on, the vehicle was becoming a wreck, spending at least four days a week at workshops. Business was becoming very slow and more money was spent repairing the bus than was flowing in as revenue.
Some people expressed interest in buying it. One section of the family wanted it sold, so that money can be added to buy a new bus but another section became adamant and wanted it kept as a family property no matter the cost, stressing that it is the family’s heirloom and must be kept forever as family property. Readers, in your opinion, which side will you support?
This is the situation we have in Ghana, today, in regards to failing state assets. One group will say, “sell them off and spare the millions the nation is wasting,” and the other group will say, “they belong to the state and so by any means, they must be maintained and retained as state-owned.”
There are numerous state-owned assets out there which are in complete wreck and registering loses and do not generate any revenue for the state, rather the state spends our scarce resources to keep them running.
I have requested this once before and I will request it again. Can the minister of Finance and Economic Planning, appear to the good people of Ghana and named all failing and failed state assets that the state is continuously pumping money into withoutgetting any income?
We should also be told how much the state is wasting on these assets which have become liabilities. I believe when the truth comes out, Ghanaians will start thinking over how best to resolve the problem, and the only best way is to sell these assets off.
The capitalist says, government has no business in business, while to the socialist, the state must own everything including the human beings. The capitalist’s way results in the state not getting involved with the day to day running of assets, but will only sit there and collect revenue in form of taxes, levies and commissions.
In the end the nation becomes richer and richer. Meanwhile in the socialist system, it is the opposite and even though state assets are failing, they are maintained by the state with valuable funds wasted.
When in the 80’s and 90’s during the Rawlings’ administrations, state assets were recklessly sold off, with some like Ashanti Goldfield, Social Security Bank, Tema Boatyard and Bank for Housing and Construction who were then performing very well, yet, nobody, no socialist challenged that decision.
No one came out to say it was wrong to sell out industries and businesses Nkrumah established, especially those doing well. No one even wanted to know or talk about those who benefited from the sales, who incidentally, were some NDC gurus and foreign and local components fronting for them. Those assets were soldoff at give-away prices.
SSNIT invested workers’ contribution in the establishment of a bank, the Social Security Bank (SSB), with 100% shareholding. It was officially opened on January 17, 1977, with its first branch on the ground floor of the SSNIT head office in Accra. This bank was performing exceedingly well when suddenly, the government of the day in 1995 offloaded 20% of its shares to a private investor.
By 1997, a consortium of strategic investors acquired another 52% shares, leaving SSNIT with 28% shares. Today, SSNIT has only 19.36% shares, with a foreign component, Société Généraleacquiring 60.22% shares and having the bank re-named Société Générale-Ghana.
In all seriousness, with SSNIT holding only 19.36% shares, can something come out from this bank to be paid out as adequate pensions to workers who are on retirement?
Also in 1994, the NDC government of the day offloaded 30% shares Ghana had in Ashanti Goldfield to foreign components, making Ghana lose its position as majority shareholder of 55% to 25%. Later, on this 25% shares were also offloaded to foreign components, making Ghana having no share in gold production. And today, the country is the largest gold producer in Africa.
And all this happened during NDC 1 and 2, starting from 1995, when Ghana was under constitutional rule and yet, organised labour did not organise demonstrations and sit-down strikes to express dissatisfaction with this transaction.
Today, organised labour has woken up and overturned the board decision of SSNIT to offload 60% of its shares in four of its hotels to a private component, the Rock City.
Organised Labour and for that matter, Ghanaians, led by the members of Parliament, must right the wrongs of the past and undo the sins committed by the NDC to Ghana and Ghanaians.
Société Générale-Ghana, must be taken back with SSNIT holding 100% and the name of the bank reverted to Social Security Bank to emphasis its role in protecting the social security of workers.
The next step is to reclaim all the SSNIT hotels and rest houses sold out to individual person and companies, back to the Trust. The next major step is to nationalise AngloGold Ashanti with government holding 100% shares and the name reverting to Ashanti Goldfield.
While at this, the veil must be lifted on each and every business entity reclaimed for Ghana, so that we know all those behind the scene, benefiting from the sales of those state assets.
After all these are accomplished, the whole of Ghana must sit to agree on how much percentage shares of state assets must go to individuals, including full blooded Ghanaians.
I urge Organised Labour not to stop only at the SSNIT/Rock City deal but incite all of Ghanaians to join them to reclaim all state assets ‘recklessly’ sold to private individuals by the NDC. It is only when this is achieved that I will commend Organised Labour.
If, however, Organised Labour does not accomplish this or even attempt to do this, I will regard it as politically induced cowards who will only flex its muscles at the cool and humble regimes but not at the rowdy barking ones.
It is about time to right the wrongs of the past and bring into the open, governments which succeeded in doing Ghana in.
I hear Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa calling out for the dissolution of the SSNIT’s Board of Trusties. I think it will be very unfair. What could have caused the hotels to be failing may not be mismanagement or wrong directives from the Board.
Hotel business is like trading and if what one offers is not pleasing to people, it will lose costumers no matter how well the business is managed. Some competitors may be offering what the consumers prefer but that will be a more addition cost. If it cannot afford, every thing will slowly go down.
We should first know what is lacking in the SSNIT’s hotels that may not make them attractive to customers.
More seriously, on the SSNIT Board are four representatives of Organised Labour, namely John Senanu Amegashie, Joshua Ansah, Dr. Evans Agbeme Dzikum and Ivy BeturNaaso with Dr.Emmanuel Adu-Sarkodee, representing the Ghana Employers Association (Re: https://www.ssnit.org.gh/about-us/board-of-trustees/).
These five lady and gentlemen actually sat in board meetings which discussed this SSNIT/Rock City deal and they did not consult those they represent and carry feed backs from them to the board. What is their relevance on the Board, then? How accountable are they?
If Organised Labour wants to attack the Board, it must first call its representatives to book. All others must be left to do their business on the Board, for to me they cannot be faulted for that decision.
I will end by repeating that in fairness, all SSNIT and other state assets sold by the NDC must be nationalised. After that we agree how much shares should go to the private sector. One can only imagine the millions of dollars being repatriated abroad, every year, by Société Générale, which could have boosted the pension of retired workers. Mind you if SSNIT is having problems with its investments, then sooner than later, it will not be able to pay out pensions.
It is about time, SSNIT renders account of its investments to workers and pensioners. It must come out to tell the public what is happening to all its investments and which ones are failing and why.
The same should apply to the minister of Finance and Economic Planning, who should tell Ghanaians, during the reading of annual budgets, which state assets are doing well and which are failing, and how much how much the state is wasting on them. Collectively, we must find solutions to the problems and decide whether to offload shares, sell outright or do none of the above.
Hon. Daniel Dugan
