Manasseh Azure Petitions President Mahama to Terminate 19-Year YEA-Zoomlion Contract over Alleged Corruption and Exploitation

Celebrated investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has formally petitioned President John Dramani Mahama to end what he calls a “massively corrupt and exploitative” 19-year-old contract between the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and Zoomlion Ghana Limited.

In a detailed petition submitted this week, Manasseh accused Zoomlion of profiting disproportionately from public funds allocated for sanitation workers, while the sweepers themselves receive paltry wages and little accountability from the agency or the company.

“Under the last contract that expired in September 2024, GHS850 was allocated per sweeper. Zoomlion retained GHS600 and paid just GHS250 to the actual workers,” he revealed.

He further disclosed that Zoomlion charged GHS90 million in interest in 2024 alone because of delays by the YEA in making payments — a practice enshrined in the contract that allows the company to bill interest after three months of non-payment.

According to Manasseh, the company’s new proposal, which Zoomlion claims is “still under discussion” with the current YEA leadership, seeks to increase the allocation per sweeper to GHS1,308 — of which GHS888 would go to Zoomlion and GHS420 to the sweeper.

“It’s an outrageous and deeply unfair arrangement,” Manasseh stated. “While Zoomlion enriches itself, the real workers, whose hands keep our cities clean, remain impoverished.”

The petition further casts doubt on the veracity of Zoomlion’s beneficiary figures, noting that the company continues to charge the state for 45,000 sweepers monthly, despite a 2018 YEA audit showing only 38,884 verified workers.

In 2022, when the Accra Metropolitan Assembly reported that many sweepers had abandoned their posts, the YEA reportedly could not produce any data — yet payments to Zoomlion for 45,000 sweepers persisted.

“The YEA has no verifiable data to track who is actually working. Meanwhile, the taxpayer keeps footing the bill,” Manasseh argued.

The immediate past CEO of YEA, Kofi Baah Agyepong, according to the petition, also recommended the termination of the Zoomlion contract, insisting that the agency could manage the sanitation module directly — as it already does with other programmes that pay beneficiaries more than sweepers do under the Zoomlion arrangement.

Manasseh is advocating for a new model that would eliminate Zoomlion as the middleman and place direct responsibility in the hands of district assemblies and the YEA.

“If the YEA and assemblies supervise the sweepers directly, workers will receive better wages and be motivated to work. It’s a cleaner, fairer, and more accountable system,” he said.

He added that Zoomlion’s separate Sanitation Improvement Package (SIP) contract, which covers waste collection and disposal, could temporarily remain in place to avoid a potential sanitation crisis.

However, he advised that budgetary reforms would be necessary to prevent it from draining local government resources.

Manasseh’s petition references his 2013 GYEEDA investigation, which led to landmark reforms under then-President Mahama — including new legislation, criminal prosecutions, contract cancellations, and the recovery of state funds.

“This Zoomlion contract is the only major one that survived those reforms, even though the report commissioned by the president made adverse findings against it,” he said.

Armed with documentary evidence and a long-standing reputation for uncovering corruption, Manasseh expressed hope that President Mahama would act decisively once again.

“We hope the president will not fail us, the sweepers, and our dear nation,” he concluded.

Click the link Puretvonline.com | WhatsApp Channel to join the whatsapp channel

GOT A STORY?

Contact/WhatsApp: +233243201960 or Email: manuelnkansah33@gmail.com