According to investigative journalist Manasseh Awuni Azure, the controversial contract between Zoomlion and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) for managing street and market cleaners has officially ended.
However, Azure expressed concern that YEA is still willing to maintain an arrangement where Zoomlion receives GH₵ 600 from the GH₵ 850 allocated monthly for each cleaner.
He indicated that This means that while Zoomlion continues to receive the bulk of the funds, GH₵ 600, the cleaners themselves are left with just GH₵ 250.
“According to this letter, Zoomlion has not paid the sweepers for OVER ONE YEAR, although the company is paid for interest on loans it claims to take to pre-finance the contract.
“The YEA, per the new arrangement, is proposing to pay the cleaners’ 250 cedis to them directly and pay 600 cedis per cleaner to Zoomlion for managing them”.
Manasseh Awuni Azure
According to Azure, Zoomlion is unwilling to agree to the proposed arrangement where the company only receives its GHS 600 share directly from the Youth Employment Agency (YEA).
He stated that instead, Zoomlion demands control over the entire GHS 850 allocated per cleaner, which includes not only its own GHS 600 but also the GHS 250 meant for the sweepers.
He pointed out that this would allow Zoomlion to continue managing and distributing payments to the cleaners, despite its history of defaulting on these payments for over a year.
Accordingly, Azure expressed concern over this, as the cleaners—already underpaid—could face further delays in receiving their wages.
“Why does Zoomlion not want the YEA to pay the cleaners directly?” – Manasseh Awuni Azure
Manasseh further revealed that for several years, the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) has disputed Zoomlion’s claim of having 45,000 cleaners on its payroll.
He noted that despite repeated requests from the YEA for Zoomlion to provide a verified payroll for review, the company has consistently failed to do so.
This raises serious concerns about the accuracy of Zoomlion’s reported numbers and the transparency of the entire arrangement.
YEA’s Direct Control To Expose Truth
Furthermore, Manasseh Awuni Azure noted that if the YEA were to take over the direct payment of the cleaners, the true situation would be exposed.
Accordingly, Azure indicated that this could explain why Zoomlion is determined to retain control over the entire payment process, as it may prevent closer scrutiny and the uncovering of any discrepancies in its operations.
The investigative journalist highlighted that since 2022, the CEO of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) has been striving to terminate the Zoomlion arrangement to allow the YEA and district assemblies to directly manage the sweepers.
Azure, however, noted that the CEO’s efforts have been hindered by a lack of support from the YEA board, chaired by Anita Kusi Boateng, the wife of Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, who is linked to the National Cathedral controversy.
“It is unclear whether the board will allow the management of the YEA and the assemblies to take over the contract or whether the board will still allow Zoomlion to keep this fraudulent contract and owe the sweepers for this long.
“It is worth noting that the YEA pays its beneficiaries at least 500 cedis a month. The only exception is in this cleaners’ arrangement that gives a chunk of the money to Zoomlion while the cleaners go home only 250 cedis, which is less than half of the minimum wage”.
Manasseh Awuni Azure
Azure pointed out that President Akufo-Addo is well-informed about the controversial arrangement between Zoomlion and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA).
He noted that despite this, the president has not provided any backing to the YEA CEO, who has been actively working to end the deal.
According to Azure, the CEO has been pushing for the termination of the contract in order to allow the YEA and district assemblies to take over the management of the cleaners.
However, without the president’s support, these efforts have been stalled, raising questions about the government’s commitment to addressing the issue.
