The controversial contract between Zoomlion and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) for managing street and market cleaners has reached a critical juncture, revealing deep-seated issues that threaten the livelihoods of those it was meant to support.
Despite the contract’s conclusion, YEA is prepared to keep the arrangement that gives Zoomlion 600 cedis out of the 850 cedis allocated to each sweeper per month. This means Zoomlion will receive 600 and the sweepers will continue to receive 250.
According to this letter, Zoomlion has not paid the sweepers for OVER ONE YEAR, although the company is paid for interest on loans it claims to take to pre-finance the contract.
YEA per the new arrangement is proposing a new plan to directly pay the cleaners their 250 cedis, while still allocating 600 cedis to Zoomlion for its management services.
However, Zoomlion is resisting this arrangement, insisting on controlling the payment process and continuing its longstanding pattern of default.
Why does Zoomlion not want the YEA to pay the cleaners directly? Manasseh Azure questioned.
‘’This letter does not state it, but for many years now, the YEA has said Zoomlion’s claim of 45,000 cleaners on the payroll is not accurate. When the YEA asked Zoomlion to produce a payroll for verification, Zoomlion failed to do it’’.
If the YEA takes over payment responsibilities, the true number of cleaners and possibly more discrepancies would likely be revealed. This makes Zoomlion’s resistance to the new arrangement more understandable.
According Manasseh Azure ,the CEO of the YEA has been advocating since 2022 for a termination of the contract with Zoomlion, arguing that the sweepers should be managed directly by the YEA and district assemblies.
However, he has not received the necessary backing from the board, chaired by Anita Kusi Boateng, the wife of Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng of the National Cathedral saga.
‘’It is unclear whether the board will allow the management of the YEA and the assemblies to take over the contract or whether the board will still allow Zoomlion to keep this fraudulent contract and owe the sweepers for this long.
President Akufo-Addo is aware of this scandalous arrangement but has not intervened to support the YEA CEO’s call for termination’’.
It is worth noting that the YEA pays its beneficiaries at least 500 cedis a month. The only exception is in this cleaners’ arrangement that gives a chunk of the money to Zoomlion while the cleaners go home only 250 cedis, which is less than half of the minimum wage.
President Akufo-Addo knows about this deal, but he has failed to support the YEA CEO who wants it terminated.
YEA board members
1. Mrs. Anita Kusi Boateng —Board Chair2. Pius Enam Hadzide—Member
3. Kofi Baah Agyepong— CEO & Member
4. Dr. Eric Yeboah —Member
5. Vincent Ekow Assafuah—member
6. Bright Wireko Brobbey—Member
7. Lawrencia Ahema Adams—Member
8. Alexander Awotwi—member
THE WORST PART OF THE ZOOMLION SCANDAL
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1. Zoomlion’s obscene Contract with the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) to manage street and market cleaners has ended.2. The YEA is prepared to keep the arrangement that gives… pic.twitter.com/Jx97wK5R5N
— Manasseh Azure Awuni (@Manasseh_Azure) October 2, 2024
