Founder of the Jospong Group of Companies and CEO of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, has emphasized his company’s commitment to job creation, claiming that Zoomlion has provided over 250,000 jobs across the country.
Speaking during a media interview, Dr. Agyepong shared his personal journey as a former street worker and farmer, which he says has given him a deep understanding of employment creation.
“Our nature and natural gift is employment. Personally, I’ve been a farmer, I’ve sold on the streets and in markets, so I understand how to create jobs.
Over the years, we’ve created about 250,000 employees. We fully support the President’s vision for job creation,” he said.
However, this pledge of employment creation has come under scrutiny following delays in payments to sanitation workers employed under Zoomlion’s management.
Emma Osei-Duah, Zoomlion’s Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs, admitted last year that some sanitation workers, particularly street sweepers, had not been paid for nine months.
This delay, she explained, stems from the company’s contract with the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), which requires Zoomlion to pre-finance payments before being reimbursed by the government.
“We’ve not paid some of the sweepers, but it is not up to a year. We have paid four months to each person,” Osei-Duah clarified in an interview on Joy FM’s Newsnight.
The situation has caused friction between Zoomlion and YEA, with YEA’s Executive Officer, Kofi Baah Agyapong, calling for a review of the arrangement.
Under the current agreement, YEA pays GH₵ 850 per sweeper to Zoomlion, out of which GH₵ 250 goes to the workers, while the company retains GH₵ 600 as management and logistics fees.
Despite this allocation, some workers have reportedly gone unpaid for over a year, prompting YEA to push for the suspension of the contract.
Our nature and natural gift is employment; we have created over 250,000 jobs over the years. – Founder of Jospong Group of Companies and CEO of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong pic.twitter.com/w88miK9u84
— EDHUB🌍ℹ (@eddie_wrt) January 13, 2025
