Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has raised serious concerns over Greater Accra Regional Minister Hon. Linda Ocloo’s decision to partner with Zoomlion Ghana Limited in addressing the region’s sanitation challenges.
Awuni warned that by aligning with the company, the minister is “courting corruption, not a solution” to the persistent waste management crisis in the capital.
In an open letter to the regional minister, Awuni expressed his dismay that one of Ocloo’s first moves after assuming office was to meet with Joseph Siaw Agyepong, CEO of Zoomlion and Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, to discuss a collaboration to keep Accra clean.
He argued that such a partnership raises red flags, given Zoomlion’s long history of controversial government contracts and alleged corruption scandals.
“The Minority Leader of Parliament, Alexander Afenyo Markin, is widely quoted in media reports as saying that the Appointments Committee of Parliament did not ask you any questions at your vetting because the committee was begged on your behalf.
“The reason for the begging was that you could not stand scrutiny, so the committee gave you a pass, and Parliament subsequently approved your nomination as the Minister for the Greater Accra Region”.
Manasseh Azure Awuni
Awuni condemned this process as “senseless and shameful,” arguing that any individual seeking a high-level public office must be able to endure scrutiny.
He insisted that Ocloo should reconsider her decision to collaborate with Zoomlion, pointing out that public reactions to her meeting with Agyepong on social media indicate widespread disapproval.
He even referenced the grassroots cleaning group BuzStopBoys, arguing that they have done a better job maintaining cleanliness in Accra despite lacking government contracts.
History of Corruption Allegations Against Zoomlion
Furthermore, Manasseh Awuni backed his concerns with what he described as “hardcore facts,” detailing multiple corruption allegations against Zoomlion and the Jospong Group.
He noted that in 2013, his investigation into the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) scandal revealed Zoomlion’s involvement in fraudulent deals.
That same year, the World Bank also blacklisted Zoomlion after uncovering corruption in Liberia, where the company admitted to paying bribes to facilitate contract execution and invoice processing.
Despite these scandals, successive Ghanaian governments have continued to grant monopoly contracts to Zoomlion, often claiming that other companies cannot manage the country’s waste effectively.
Awuni refuted this, pointing out that when Zoomlion was awarded its first nationwide contracts in 2006, it did not even own waste management trucks, relying instead on manual tricycles.
“A CHRAJ investigation revealed that in the 2007 contract with all assemblies in Ghana, Zoomlion received payments long before it supplied the trucks to do the work.
“In Part 3 of my “Robbing the Assemblies” investigative documentary series, there is enormous evidence that some assemblies and private waste management companies did better than Zoomlion in waste management”.
Manasseh Azure Awuni
Ghana’s Filth Blamed on Zoomlion
In March 2018, then-Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Joseph Kofi Adda, blamed Zoomlion for the country’s sanitation woes.
However, following his criticism, a strong media campaign was launched against him, ultimately leading to his removal from office.
His successor, Cecelia Abena Dapaah, instead praised Zoomlion highly—yet Accra remained far from achieving her goal of becoming the cleanest city in Africa.
Dapaah later resigned under a corruption cloud, after large sums of cash were found in her residence.
Accordingly, Awuni argued that Ghana’s sanitation crisis worsened when the government awarded nationwide cleaning contracts to Zoomlion, eliminating the role of sanitation inspectors, commonly known as “nsamansama.”
He pointed out that previously, local assemblies employed and supervised street sweepers, but in 2006, the government redirected these responsibilities to Zoomlion under the Sanitation Guards program.
Currently, the government pays Zoomlion GHS 850 per sweeper per month under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) initiative.
However, only GHS 250 is given to the sweepers, with Zoomlion pocketing the remaining GHS 600. Many sweepers also report delays in receiving their wages, despite Zoomlion’s claims that it pre-finances the program.
Additionally, Manasseh Awuni revealed that beyond its contracts for street sweeping, Zoomlion also holds numerous other sanitation-related government contracts.
Under the Sanitation Improvement Package (SIP), Zoomlion is responsible for collecting and disposing of refuse nationwide.
He noted that the company also manages final disposal sites for assemblies, conducts fumigation programs, and has been awarded multiple nationwide contracts for solid and liquid waste management.
According to Awuni, Zoomlion benefits from three separate fumigation contracts: one awarded by the Ministry of Health through the National Health Insurance Scheme, another from the Ministry of Local Government, and an additional expanded contract during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Zoomlion and the Jospong Group have other nationwide contracts to process and manage solid and liquid waste.
“So, if one company has been in charge of all these government contracts and makes billions from them, who should we blame if Accra and Ghana are still filthy? What new thing are you, Linda Ocloo, expecting from Zoomlion?”
Manasseh Azure Awuni
Despite these contracts, Ghana continues to grapple with waste management issues, raising concerns about whether taxpayers are getting value for money.
As such, Awuni questioned how a single company could maintain a near-total monopoly over sanitation contracts while Ghana remains one of the dirtiest countries in Africa.
Calls for Transparency and Accountability
In September 2022, Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) CEO, Elizabeth Sackey, attempted to verify the number of sweepers employed under Zoomlion’s YEA contract, as the AMA’s Common Fund was being deducted at the source to pay the company.
However, when she requested the list from the YEA, the agency admitted it did not know the actual number of sweepers Zoomlion was managing.
This was further confirmed by YEA board minutes from October 13, 2022, which documented CEO Kofi Baah Agyepong’s frustration over Zoomlion’s lack of transparency.
He reportedly sought to terminate the contract but was unable to take action.
Accordingly, Manasseh Awuni compared Ghana’s reliance on Zoomlion to “partnering with a convicted pedophile to undertake a campaign against child sex abuse.”
He urged Ocloo to empower local assemblies to oversee their own sanitation programs, arguing that their internal waste management departments were better suited for the task but lacked funding because the government funneled money to Zoomlion instead.
“Because almost all the money goes to Zoomlion, the sweepers are not motivated to go out and clean the cities. In the last Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu and Dr. Kwabena Donkor raised the issue of Zoomlion’s slave wages to the sweepers.
“Speaker Bagbin constituted a committee to investigate this when Dr. Kwabena Donkor first raised this. As with Zoomlion investigations, nothing came out of it”.
Manasseh Azure Awuni
As public dissatisfaction grows, many are calling for greater accountability in sanitation contracts, demanding that the government put an end to what they see as a corrupt and inefficient monopoly.
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