Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has raised alarm over a potential renewal of a controversial sanitation contract between the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and waste management giant Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
In a strongly-worded open letter titled “Malik Basintale, Please, Don’t Push This Thievery!”, Manasseh called on the newly appointed YEA CEO, Malik Basintale, to resist any attempt to continue what he described as an exploitative and opaque arrangement.
According to Manasseh, under the current agreement, each market cleaner is allocated a monthly allowance of GH₵850, of which GH₵600 is deducted by Zoomlion Ghana Limited as “management fees,” leaving the actual sweeper with just GH₵250.
These workers reportedly do not receive any other benefits such as health insurance, pension contributions, or even transportation support.
He further alleged that many of these sweepers have gone without salaries for over a year, despite claims by Zoomlion that it pre-finances the salaries and later gets reimbursed by the government.
“What kind of company pre-finances for a year without any sign of payment, and why does government continue to pump money into a contract shrouded in secrecy?” he asked.
Manasseh referenced a 2022 letter from Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) which revealed that although Zoomlion was being paid for providing cleaning services in Accra markets under the YEA module, the AMA had to deploy its own sanitation personnel because those sweepers were nowhere to be found.
This, according to him, raises concerns about the credibility of Zoomlion’s reported 45,000 workers under the YEA sanitation program.
He described the scheme as a clear example of “state-backed enslavement” and urged the youth-led YEA leadership not to rubber-stamp what he called a “slave wage system.”
He warned that if Basintale went ahead to sign a renewal of the deal, he would be seen as complicit in a long-standing act of corruption.
The award-winning journalist concluded with a passionate appeal to the conscience of young leaders in public office, stressing the importance of fighting for equity, transparency, and justice — especially when it concerns the vulnerable Ghanaian worker.
The letter has since sparked conversations on social media, with many calling for a full audit of the sanitation contract and greater transparency in how government outsourcing deals are awarded and managed.
Source: myinfotoday.com
