Malik Basintale, the CEO of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), has received a severe warning from investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni not to extend a sanitation contract with Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a waste management business.
Manasseh called the proposed purchase a “theft” and said that “it stinks to the heavens” in an impassioned plea posted on his Facebook page this week.
According to him, the controversial contract, which ended in September 2024, supposedly pays GH¢850 per sanitation worker each month. However, under the current arrangement, Zoomlion keeps GH¢600 in management fees, leaving only GH¢250 for the sweepers, a sum that many have condemned as exploitative and cruel.
Manasseh’s most recent remarks coincide with rumors that the YEA board is debating extending the organization’s contract, a move that Kofi Agyapong, the former CEO of the organization under the New Patriotic Party (NPP), vehemently opposed before his resignation.
According to reports, Mr. Agyapong informed Zoomlion last year that the contract was being terminated due to a lack of openness and accountability.
Manasseh claims that numerous investigations, including the 2017 documentary “Robbing the Assemblies,” have uncovered numerous inconsistencies in Zoomlion’s service provision.
According to papers and statements he referenced, it is impossible to verify the precise number of cleaners hired under the program.
He added that the lack of sweepers purportedly operated by Zoomlion has forced a number of Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to use their own sweepers.
He claims that even though the government regularly gives money to the corporation, cleaners frequently go more than a year without getting paid.
Manasseh also cited formal complaints made by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in 2022, in which Elizabeth Sackey, the then-Mayor, questioned Zoomlion sweepers’ performance and presence under the YEA contract.
Manasseh and former YEA CEO Justin Frimpong Kodua, who is currently the General Secretary of the NPP, said Zoomlion was unable to provide credible documentation to support its claim of employing 45,000 sanitation workers nationally.
“Why must the supervisor receive GH¢ 600 to manage a worker who is paid just GH¢ 250? And how can we continue paying for work that isn’t being done?” Manasseh questioned.
In addition, he said that previous administrations, ranging from the Mahama administration to Akufo-Addo’s, ignored the financial irregularities related to the Zoomlion contracts, either in collusion or for political reasons.
Manasseh is now urging the current CEO of the YEA and other young NDC MPs, such as Eric Edem Agbana and Osman Abdulai Ayariga, to oppose any push to bring up the agreement again.
Manasseh cautioned Basintale, saying, “If any contract is signed, you will be held responsible.” He urged Basintale to give the MMDAs’ waste management units more authority to oversee sanitation workers.
Many, including Manasseh, have criticized Zoomlion CEO Elder Joseph Siaw-Agyapong’s recent statement to Parliament that sweepers only work four hours a day, six days a week, as insufficient justification for the management charge and contempt for labor rights.
“This is not just about numbers or documents. It’s about dignity, fairness, and responsible governance,” Manasseh said, adding that he had a ton of data to back up his assertions, including video proof.
Source: newsthemegh.com