Manasseh Azure, an investigative journalist, has revealed that Minister Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah denied attending a Youth Employment Agency (YEA) board meeting where a controversial contract was signed, benefiting Zoomlion despite opposition from some attendees.
Azure noted that, at the time, Adjei-Mensah Korsah was a deputy minister and a member of the YEA board.
According to Azure, the Minister stated that he had requested and seen the board minutes in question, but maintained that he did not attend the meeting, contrary to the YEA’s records.
“I have reached out to the YEA, but I’m yet to receive an official response on the matter. The minutes said the decision was reached by a majority decision. It recorded three board members as opposing the decision to increase management fees for Zoomlion Ghana Limited”.
“The CEO of YEA, Kofi Baah Agyepong, is recorded as boycotting the subcommittee that discussed the upward adjustment of fees because he was vehemently opposed to it. Two other board members—Vincent Ekow Assafuah (Tafo Pankrono MP) and Lawrencia Ahema Adams—also opposed ‘the upward revision of the contract fees and insisted their objection be on the record,’ according to the board minutes”.
Manasseh Azure
Azure further indicated that since 2006, Zoomlion has managed cleaners in Ghana’s metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs) through a questionable contract with the Youth Employment Agency (YEA).
He detailed that funds are deducted from the MMDAs’ District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) in Accra and paid to Zoomlion, regardless of work performance.
He maintained that neither the MMDAs nor the YEA have control over Zoomlion, and there are no records of the 45,000 workers Zoomlion claims to have employed, leading to unchecked payments.
Azure stated that in 2022, the government allocated ₵600/month per sweeper for contract revision. Zoomlion was to receive ₵420/month as management fees, while sweepers got ₵180/month.
He noted that a proposed increment would raise the total to ₵850/month, a ₵250 increase, which three board members opposed at the October 13, 2022 meeting.
Disparity In Proposed Increment, Zoomlion Wins Big
Furthermore, Manasseh Azure indicated that the proposed ₵250 increment would give sweepers only ₵70 more, while Zoomlion’s share would increase by ₵180, totaling ₵600 per person, with sweepers receiving just ₵250 monthly.
Azure noted that despite opposition from YEA CEO Kofi Baah Agyepong and two board members, the deal proceeded.
He noted that Agyepong appealed to the National Security Minister and sought help from Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko to intervene in the presidency, citing the NPP’s 2016 label of the deal as “fraudulent”.
“Despite his efforts, the deal was passed and, as we speak, the sweepers are paid 250 a month from the total allocation of 850, while Zoomlion takes 600 cedis per sweeper per month. This means Zoomlion receives about 20 million cedis every month from managing this contract. I’ve also been told by sources in the YEA that the government pays interest on loans Zoomlion claims to contract to run its operation of the contract”.
“Meanwhile, the poor sweepers are paid only 250 cedis ($17) a month, which is below the minimum wage set up by the government. And they sometimes work for close to a year without receiving payment”.
Manasseh Azure
Azure noted that his campaign against the contract, ongoing since 2013, was not the only effort to address the issue.
He stated that in 2013, the NDC government, led by President John Mahama, also raised concerns and identified significant problems with the contract.
He further stated that later, in 2018, Justin Frimpong Koduah, NPP General Secretary, also found anomalies in Zoomlion’s claims and announced plans to discontinue the contract and open it to competitive tendering, but no action was taken.
Azure indicated that NDC MPs Dr. Kwabena Donkor and Haruna Iddrisu have separately raised concerns about the low wages of cleaners in the Zoomlion arrangement on the Parliament floor, but no action was taken.
He stated that this is despite Speaker Bagbin’s directive for a committee to investigate and report back to the House.
“But there are more heartbreaking details to this contract than the slave-like treatment of cleaners in Ghana”. – Manasseh Azure
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