Zoomlion's Exploitative Contract Exposed: Company Rakes in GH¢27m Monthly, Pays Workers GH¢250 - Manasseh Azure

Accra, Ghana - 28 April, 2025 - A recent investigation by journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has exposed a potentially corrupt deal between Zoomlion Ghana Limited and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), with the company earning approximately 27 million cedis per month from the contract, while the street sweepers employed under the initiative receive a meager 250 cedis each per month.

According to Awuni, documents he obtained reveal that Zoomlion's claims of taking loans to execute the contract and being reimbursed for interest payments are false. In reality, the YEA paid the interest on the loans without requiring Zoomlion to provide proof of loan acquisition.

He further revealed that a separate contract with Ghana's assemblies covers waste disposal costs, meaning the 600 cedis per worker charged by Zoomlion solely covers management fees.

The investigation also raises questions about the accuracy of Zoomlion's claims regarding the number of street sweepers employed under the initiative. Past YEA CEOs have expressed doubts about the figures presented by Zoomlion, with one CEO stating that the company's headcount was 6,000 more than the actual number of workers on the ground.

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) also complained in 2022 that the number of sweepers allocated to them had dwindled, yet the YEA continued to pay Zoomlion based on the original figure of 45,000 workers. This has sparked concerns about corruption and the lack of oversight in the YEA's dealings with Zoomlion, a company previously banned by the World Bank for paying bribes in Liberia.

Read the full statement from Manasseh Azure Awuni below.

If you missed my latest episode, find the full story with official letters and video evidence in the link in the comment section. But here are some highlights:

1. Under the latest contract, Zoomlion makes 27 MILLION cedis every month from the YEA contract, while the sweepers earn 250 cedis each a month. 

2. The Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the Jospong Group, Sophia Kudjordji, claimed on TV3 that Zoomlion takes loans to run the contract, but the government does not reimburse Zoomlion for the interest on the loans.

3. This document I've shared shows that her claim, which the company has repeated over the years, is false. The YEA paid the interest even though the company was not required to show that it had taken any loans.

It is also not true that the fees it charges include the cost of disposing of the waste the sweepers gather. A different contract with all the assemblies in Ghana pays for that. So the 600 cedis per worker Zoomlion charges is solely for managing the sweepers.

4. But the most serious aspect of this story you're about to read is the second part. Past YEA CEOs have confessed, in video and documentary evidence, that they doubted the number of sweepers Zoomlion presented for payment. Even though many sweepers had stopped working because of the slave wages, Zoomlion presented the exact figure every month--45,000--as you find in this document here. And the YEA paid. And paid interest based on that figure.

5. In 2018, YEA CEO Justin Frimpong Kodua, said the YEA's headcount showed that the number of beneficiaries Zoomlion presented was 6000 more than the actual number the YEA found on the ground.

6. As you will see in the video in this story, he also said Zoomlion failed to present a payroll of the sweepers to authenticate its claim.

7. Another damning revelation Mr Kodua (the current NPP General Secretary) made was that most of the sweepers who showed up for the YEA headcount were recruited without recourse to the YEA. 

8. Under the contract, Zoomlion is not supposed to recruit. The YEA is supposed to recruit and give the workers to Zoomlion to manage. But Zoomlion is paid based on the numbers, not the work done, so it is in the interest of the company to have more people.

9. In 2022, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) complained that the YEA/Zoomlion sweepers allocated to the AMA were no longer showing up in their numbers to sweep. The AMA wrote to the YEA to get a list of the sweepers. The YEA did not have the list. (You will find that letter in the story in the link below.)

10. Surprisingly, the YEA continued to pay Zoomlion every month for exactly 45,000 people Zoomlion presented as the number of sweepers it managed. The YEA multiplied 45,000 by 850 cedis every month and paid Zoomlion, even though it knew that the 45,000 was inaccurate.

11. This is why I started this latest crusade with an open letter to Malik Basintale, the current head of the YEA. Zoomlion is notorious for involving itself in corrupt deals in different ministries and sectors in Ghana, including being banned by the World Bank for paying bribes in Liberia to facilitate contract execution. But our public office holders have, over the years, aided these deals that have cost us billions of cedis without any meaningful impact.

Source: Lead News Online