President John Mahama has stated that the government will not renew the 19-year-old contract between the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and Zoomlion Ghana Limited.

The president has also said the government will increase the fees to be paid to sweepers, arising from the “probable cost savings” from discontinuing the Zoomlion contract.

The president announced this in a letter to investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, who petitioned him to discontinue the Zoomlion contract detailing, with evidence, corruption and mismanagement under the contract.

The president’s letter, dated June 11, 2025, and signed by the Secretary to the President, Dr. Callistus Mahama, said, "The President acknowledges the serious concerns raised in your letter and responds as follows:

“1. Expiration of Contract: The contract between Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and Zoomlion Ghana Limited Zoomlion) has expired and will not be renewed.”

The letter also addressed some issues Manasseh raised in his petition about Zoomlion’s contract, including paltry fees paid to sweepers and other sanitation contracts in Ghana, over which Zoomlion almost enjoys an absolute monopoly.

Manasseh, whose investigation first revealed corruption in the Zoomlion contract in 2013, has spent the last 12 years advocating for the discontinuation of the contract, which many said was untouchable due to the company’s influence in both the NDC and NPP administrations.

Under the terms of the YEA-Zoomlion contract, GHS850 was allocated to each sweeper. Zoomlion keeps GHS600 and pays the sweepers GHS250 a month, according to the contract.

Zoomlion also charges interest if the YEA delays in paying the company for three months. In 2024, the company charged an interest of GHS90 million.

Zoomlion revealed that its latest proposal was “under discussion” at the YEA. In this proposal, Zoomlion wants the allocation per sweeper to be raised to GHS1,308, so that Zoomlion would take GHS888 and give the sweepers GHS420 a month.

The YEA has no data to verify the 45,000 sweepers Zoomlion presents for payment every month, even after raising an alarm in 2018. The YEA stated that its headcount showed 38,884 sweepers were on the ground, contradicting Zoomlion’s claim of 45,000.

The YEA CEO, Justin Kodua Frimpong (the current NPP General Secretary), said Zoomlion failed to submit its payroll for verification when the YEA requested.

In 2022, the YEA could not provide any data when the Accra Metropolitan Assembly complained in a letter that most sweepers had stopped working. Meanwhile, Zoomlion continued to bill the state for 45,000 people every month.

The immediate past CEO of the YEA, Kofi Baah Agyepong, told the YEA board that the contract with Zoomlion should be cancelled, as the YEA was capable of running the sweepers’ module without a third-party company, just as it runs other modules. In all the modules, the YEA pays all its beneficiaries more than the sweepers, whose payment is routed through Zoomlion.

In his April 2025 petition to the president, Manasseh Azure Awuni proposed that the contract be discontinued so that the assemblies and the YEA should supervise the sweepers.

In this way, the assemblies could have direct control of the sweepers, who are paid with the assemblies’ share of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF).

If Zoomlion was eliminated as the middleman, Manasseh argued in his petition to the President, the sweepers would enjoy better wages and be motivated to show up and work to keep the nation clean.

President Mahama responded positively to all the issues Manasseh raised in his petition.

Manasseh will issue a formal statement in reaction to the President’s response to the petition, but he has described President Mahama’s response to his letter as one of the best pieces of news of his journalism career.

Read the full response from the President to Manasseh:

RE: PETITION TO DISCONTINUE THE EXPIRED CONTRACT BETWEEN THE YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AGENCY (YEA) AND ZOOMLION GHANA LIMITED.

I refer to your letter dated April 27, 2025, on the above matter. His Excellency the President acknowledges the serious concerns raised in your letter and responds as follows:

1. Expiration of Contract: The contract between Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and Zoomlion Ghana Limited (“Zoomlion”) has expired and will not be renewed.

2. Audit of Payments and Claims: All payments made to Zoomlion after the contract’s expiration will be thoroughly audited. No further payments will be authorised without proper verification, and any unauthorised payments will be recovered.

3. Conduct competitive procurement: Cabinet has directed that future sanitation contracts be subjected to a competitive procurement process. Rather than one national contract, there should be regional or district-based tenders for private firms. This could reduce costs through competitive pricing and stimulate innovation, as companies compete on service quality to secure contracts. A cabinet subcommittee will develop the modalities for implementing this.

4. Sweeper Fees: With probable cost savings, the government intends to increase the sweeper fees to a more liveable income.

5. Fumigation contracts: contracts that have not been performed satisfactorily will be reviewed and, where appropriate, terminated in accordance with their terms and upon the advice of the Attorney-General.

Please accept the assurances of my highest esteem.

Signed

Callistus Mahama, PhD
Secretary to the President