Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has issued a strong public appeal to Malik Basintale, the newly appointed CEO of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), urging him not to renew what he describes as a fraudulent and exploitative contract between the agency and waste management company Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
In a detailed statement shared on April 23, 2025, Awuni expressed deep concern over the treatment of sanitation workers under the now-expired contract, which he says allocated 850 Ghana cedis per month per worker, with only 250 cedis reaching the actual sweepers.
The remaining 600 cedis, according to Awuni, went to Zoomlion as management fees — a deal he has described as both “obscene” and “criminal.”
Awuni reminded Basintale that the previous CEO of the YEA, Kofi Agyepong, resisted attempts to renew the contract despite pressure from the board and other government officials.
Agyepong eventually informed Zoomlion in writing that the contract had expired in September 2024 and should be suspended.
As of the time the current administration took over, no contract existed between the YEA and Zoomlion.
According to Awuni, this arrangement has long been plagued by a lack of transparency and accountability.
He referenced a 2022 letter from the Chief Executive Officer of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Elizabeth Sackey, in which she sought clarification from the YEA about the number of sweepers assigned to the AMA through Zoomlion.
The YEA, according to internal board minutes, could not provide this information because it did not possess the data.
Awuni pointed out that successive administrations have failed to verify Zoomlion’s longstanding claim of managing 45,000 sweepers nationwide.
In 2018, then YEA CEO Justin Kodua Frimpong publicly stated that a headcount revealed far fewer sweepers than Zoomlion claimed and announced plans to cancel the contract.
However, the contract persisted, and payments continued without full verification of beneficiaries.
He also cited the poor working conditions of the sweepers, who, beyond receiving a meager monthly wage of 250 cedis, lack basic benefits such as transportation, health insurance, and pension support.
Many, he claimed, have gone unpaid for over a year, forcing some to abandon their posts. Nonetheless, government payments to Zoomlion have continued based on unverifiable figures.
In a plea directed to Basintale and other young National Democratic Congress (NDC) politicians such as Osman Abdulai Ayariga and Eric Edem Agbana, Awuni stressed the need to act in the interest of Ghanaian youth and protect public resources from exploitation.
He argued that the assemblies have enough qualified staff in their waste management departments to supervise sanitation workers directly, without outsourcing to Zoomlion under unfavorable terms.
Awuni emphasized that his concerns are not driven by personal animosity toward Zoomlion CEO Joseph Siaw-Agyepong, a respected elder of the Church of Pentecost, but by a desire to see sanitation workers treated with dignity and fairness.
He warned that reviving the contract would make the current administration complicit in what he described as a longstanding financial scandal.
Awuni called on President John Dramani Mahama to ensure that such contracts are not renewed.
He reminded the President and his appointees that their credibility and legacy are at stake.
