New details about the part-ownership of Labadi Beach Hotel revealed by North Tongu Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa suggest that the son of former NPP Chairman Freddie Blay may be somehow involved.
According to details shared on social media on Saturday, June 1, 2024, the lawmaker explained that Kwaw Wasemao Blay entered into a partnership with someone but somewhere along the way betrayed the person and claimed full ownership of the business.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa explained that the information came to light after Kwaw Wasemao Blay’s former partner, Loic DeVos Jr, filed a lawsuit against the son of the former NPP chairman.
He went on to explain that Bray had “stabbed” DeVos Jr. with a contract that was supposed to guarantee both parties waterfront ownership of the Labadi Beach Hotel.
“If Mr Kwaw Wasemao Blay’s business partner, Loic Debos Jnr had not filed a suit on February 17, 2023, at the Accra High Court (Commercial Division) alleging that his business partner, Mr Kwaw Wasemao Blay, cheated him out of the business operations and wrongfully denied him financial benefits from the joint business deal, Ghanaians may never have known about this shocking hostile takeover in 2022 by the son of the then NPP Chairman, Mr Freddy Wasemao Blay,” he elaborated.
“Suit No: CM/MISC/0302/2023, In the Matter of Gold Coast Expo Limited – A Derivative Suit between Loic Devos Junior (Applicant) and Kwaw Worsemao Blay and Press Xpress Limited (Respondents), is a matter of considerable interest.
“Loic DeVos Jr., in his court filing, stated that he approached Kwaw Wasemao Blay with a business partnership and together they incorporated and registered a company called Gold Coast Expo Limited in Ghana on August 27, 2019.
“They have been hosting an entertainment extravaganza named ‘Polo Beach Club’ on Labadi Beach from 2019 to December 2021,” he wrote to X.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa also detailed how Freddie’s son was involved in the affair and how the situation led to the dismissal of the former Managing Director of Labadi Beach Hotel, Rene Vincent Ernst.
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Shocking court documents obtained by me and which I am now analysing reveal that politically sensitive individuals with links to the ruling NPP have long had grandiose state takeover plans to completely take over SSNIT’s hotels, particularly the ultra-profitable Labadi Beach Hotel.
It has emerged that Bryan Acheapong is not the only ruling party member involved in the Labadi Beach Hotel “plan.”
Shocking court documents confirm that the son of a former NPP national chairman, Kwaw Wasemao Blay, claims to be the new owner of a stretch of coastal land that has long belonged to Labadi Beach Hotel.
Labadi Beach Hotel thus became the only beachfront hotel in the world that does not have exclusive control over the entire beachfront.
Unfortunately, the powerful political personalities involved in this dubious breach make the Labadi Beach Hotel board and management appear powerless.
Ghanaians may never have known about this shocking hostile takeover in 2022 by the son of the then NPP Chairman, Mr Freddy Wasemao Blay, if Mr Loic Debos Jnr, a business partner of Mr Kwaw Wasemao Blay, had not filed a suit on February 17, 2023, at the Accra High Court (Commercial Division) alleging that his business partner, Mr Kwaw Wasemao Blay, cheated him out of running the business and wrongfully denied him financial benefits from the joint business deal.
Suit No: CM/MISC/0302/2023; In the Matter of Gold Coast Expo Limited – A Derivative Suit between Loic Devos Junior (Applicant) and Kwaw Worsemao Blay and
The article by Press Xpress Limited (the respondent) is very interesting.
In his court filing, Loic DeVos Jr. said he approached Kwaw Wasemao Blay with a business partnership and together they incorporated and registered a company called Gold Coast Expo Limited in Ghana on August 27, 2019.
They have been hosting an entertainment extravaganza dubbed “Polo Beach Club” on Labadi Beach from 2019 until December 2021.
We have entered into a mutually beneficial joint venture agreement with Labadi Beach Hotel to use their beachfront as an event venue for Polo Beach Club.
All parties agreed to use the Labadi Beach Hotel reception as the entrance and exit point for the event at Polo Beach Club, an arrangement that allowed for a transparent determination of gate revenues.
Shockingly, Kwaw Wasemao Blay has arbitrarily and unilaterally breached the terms of the joint venture agreement with Labadi Beach Hotel by completely excluding the hotel and causing loss of revenue to Labadi.
In a bizarre turn of events, Kwaw Wasemao Blay has since unilaterally and recklessly taken over the beachfront, after which he created his own bypass entrance to the beachfront, giving him sole control of all gate revenues from the 2022 Polo Beach Club event onwards.
Loic DeVos Jr. said he lost access to the company’s accounts and that Kwaw Wasemao Blay had used his other company, Press Express Limited, to completely take over all business dealings, including sponsorship deals.
According to Labadi Beach Hotel officials, the hotel’s board of directors and management have protested vigorously and launched an internal investigation.
Following investigations, the Labadi Beach Hotel board of directors issued a letter of questioning on March 8, 2022 to former foreign MD Rene Vincent Ernst who was accused of conspiring with Kwaw Wasemao Blay to aid in the incursion of Labadi Hotel onto the beach.
The Commission found that René Vincent Ernst, former president of Labadi Beach Hotel, was an accomplice by secretly aiding and abetting Bray in breaching the joint venture agreement and by allowing Bray access to the beachfront where he now claims to be the owner of the encroached Labadi beachfront.
As a result, René Vincent Ernst was dismissed by the Board of Directors of Labadi Beach Hotel on November 3, 2022.
Vincent Ernst’s subterfuge attempt to step down on 22 September 2022 was rejected by the Labadie Commission because at the time there was an active investigation into a conspiracy with Bray to seize the coastline.
Mr René Vincent Ernst subsequently filed a lawsuit at the Accra Human Rights Court on 18 November 2022, challenging his dismissal and demanding payment of the outstanding €40,000.
According to court documents, Loic DeVos Jr is seeking an ex parte preliminary injunction to stop Kwaw Wasemao Blay from launching his own version of the Polo Beach Club event at Labadi Beach Hotel, as Gold Coast has acquired and secured the rights since December 2019.
Loic is also seeking to stop Kwaw Wasemao Blay and his agents, assigns, workers, servants and associates from misappropriating the company’s exclusive business interests.
Loic is also seeking a court order prohibiting Kwaw Wasemao Blay from spending or disposing of any monies or payments received by or in the name of Gold Coast or under the umbrella of its Polo Beach Club events during the 2021 and 2022 events.
Loic is seeking a further court order restraining the first and second defendants (Kwaw Wasemao Blay and his Press Express Limited) from fraudulently representing themselves as duly appointed managing directors of Gold Coast.
It will be interesting to see how all these cases ultimately play out.
What is clear, however, is that Freddie Bray’s son, Kwaw Wasemao Bray, is in full control of the encroached stretch of coastline at Labadi Beach Hotel.
Despite failed attempts by Labadi’s board and management to stop the powerful Kwaw Wasemao Blay, he has gone ahead with the construction of a permanent structure along the eroded coastline and has fully occupied it.
The lesson is that Bray is not sharing large amounts of revenue with Labadi Beach Hotel.
Hotel guests at Labadi Beach have complained to the management that Kwaw Wasemao Blay’s huge beachfront structure blocks their view and that Blay’s loud noise disturbs the tranquility, but the management remains powerless and helpless.
The grandiose plan for state takeover, to demolish the Labadi Beach Hotel and share it amongst NPP strongmen, continues with total impunity.
I must express my deepest disappointment to the Board and Management of Labadi Beach Hotel and the overseeing SSNIT Board for allowing and tolerating this blatant bullying and pressure on Labadi which led to a massive invasion of our coast by Mr Kwaw Wasemao Blay.
They claim that SSNIT Hotel is struggling as it is not profitable but look at the lengths they and their children will go to to acquire and own the hotel.
If President Akufo-Addo fails to reprimand his minions for continuing to plunder, there will be no stopping the protests on June 18th.
I am also pleased to see great progress being made on a Private Member’s Bill that would ban the sale of state assets to politicians and politically sensitive people.
For God and country.
Ghana First
Meanwhile, in the latest edition of GhanaWebTV’s ‘The Lowdown’, Etsy Atis speaks to Mpraeso Member of Parliament Davis Ansah Opoku to discuss issues surrounding E-Levy, Saglemi Housing controversy and the impeachment of the OSP.
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