By A recent investigation by Ghanaian journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has uncovered a troubling financial arrangement between Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies, and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA). The exposé, published on April 26, 2025, reveals that Zoomlion charged the YEA a staggering GHS 90 million in interest for delayed payments under the Youth in Sanitation Module—a program meant to provide jobs for Ghanaian youth while ensuring clean markets nationwide.
This revelation raises serious questions about transparency, accountability, and the prioritization of profit over public good in one of Ghana’s flagship youth employment initiatives.
The Allegation: Zoomlion’s Interest Charges Contradict Public Claims
Manasseh Azure Awuni’s investigation, detailed on his website manassehazure.com, centers on a statement made by Sophia Kudjordji, Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the Jospong Group, during an appearance on TV3’s Ghana Tonight program on April 25, 2025. Kudjordji claimed that Zoomlion does not receive interest payments on loans it takes to prefinance the YEA program, stating, “We take loans at the commercial prevailing rates, and when the reimbursement is done, we are not reimbursed for the interest that we pay.
So, if you have delayed payment for six months [or] one year, how do you expect us to get the same money to pay the people again?” Her defense was meant to justify Zoomlion’s high management fees for running the program.
However, evidence unearthed by Awuni directly contradicts this claim. A letter dated March 25, 2024, written by Zoomlion’s Director of Finance, Adokarley Okpoti-Paulo, explicitly demands GHS 90 million as “interest on overdue invoices for the YEA Sanitation Module.” The letter states that Zoomlion borrows at commercial rates to keep the program running, but fails to provide any proof of these loans.
Instead, it lists monthly bills owed in arrears and the corresponding interest charges. Sources within the YEA confirmed to Awuni that even higher interest payments had been made to Zoomlion in the past.
Further scrutiny of the 2020 contract between Zoomlion and YEA reveals that such interest charges are explicitly permitted. Clause 8.2 of the agreement stipulates that payments to Zoomlion must be made within three months of invoicing. If delays occur due to the Ministry of Finance’s failure to release funds, Zoomlion is entitled to “interest and financing charges,” to be negotiated with the Ministry, YEA, and Zoomlion.
This clause directly undermines Kudjordji’s claim, as the interest is calculated on the entire overdue amount—including both Zoomlion’s management fees and the allowances meant for sweepers.
The Program: A Lucrative Deal for Zoomlion, A Burden for Sweepers
Zoomlion has managed the Youth in Sanitation Module since the YEA’s inception in 2006, the same year the company entered Ghana’s sanitation sector. Under the latest contract, signed in 2022, Zoomlion receives GHS 850 per beneficiary but is required to pay each sweeper only GHS 250, keeping GHS 600 as a management fee.
This fee does not cover waste disposal costs, which are billed separately under Zoomlion’s Sanitation Improvement Package (SIP) contracts with local assemblies. These payments are deducted at source and paid directly to Zoomlion in Accra, further centralizing the company’s revenue streams.
Despite these substantial fees, Zoomlion has consistently failed to pay sweepers on time, with delays stretching up to a year in some cases. This has led to widespread dissatisfaction among beneficiaries, many of whom have abandoned the program due to low wages and delayed payments. Yet, Zoomlion continues to bill the YEA for 45,000 beneficiaries—a figure that has been called into question by multiple audits and officials.
Discrepancies in Beneficiary Numbers: A History of Unverified Claims
As far back as February 2018, Justin Kodua Frimpong, then-CEO of the YEA (and now General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party), raised concerns about Zoomlion’s beneficiary numbers. A nationwide headcount conducted by the YEA revealed that out of the 45,320 beneficiaries Zoomlion claimed to manage, only 38,884 showed up for verification—a shortfall of over 6,000 workers.
Zoomlion attributed the discrepancy to “beneficiary apathy” and short notice, but the exercise also uncovered that most of the verified workers had been recruited by Zoomlion without YEA’s approval, a violation of the contract stipulating that YEA should handle recruitment.
Despite these findings, Zoomlion was unable to provide payment records to back its claims, and the YEA continued to pay the company based on the unverified 45,000 figure. This decision has cost the government significantly: at GHS 850 per beneficiary, the program costs GHS 38,250,000 monthly. Had the YEA used its verified figure of 38,884, the cost would have been GHS 9,271,000 per month—a difference that highlights the financial burden of Zoomlion’s inflated claims.
Local assemblies have also felt the impact of these discrepancies. In September 2022, Elizabeth K.T. Sackey, Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), wrote to the YEA requesting a list of beneficiaries assigned to the metropolis. She noted that low attendance by sweepers was affecting the quality of sanitation work, leaving critical locations unswept.
The YEA, however, was unable to provide the data, as it lacked the means to authenticate Zoomlion’s claims. Minutes from a YEA board meeting on October 13, 2022, reveal that the agency’s management admitted to having no data on the number of beneficiaries actually working, further exposing the program’s inefficiencies.
Systemic Issues: A Broader Context of Mismanagement
The Zoomlion-YEA controversy is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of mismanagement in Ghana’s youth employment initiatives. A February 2025 article by gbcghanaonline.com highlighted the recurring failures of such programs, citing the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA)—a predecessor to YEA—as an example.
GYEEDA collapsed amid a massive corruption scandal involving the mismanagement of millions of cedis meant for training programs. Political interference, delayed salaries, and inefficiencies have plagued these initiatives, leaving Ghana’s youth—already the most vulnerable in the labor market, according to a SpringerLink study—disillusioned.
Zoomlion itself has faced prior allegations of misconduct. A citinewsroom.com report from October 4, 2024, noted that the company had been accused of pocketing GHS 400 out of each beneficiary’s GHS 500 monthly allowance, though Zoomlion clarified that payment delays were due to the government’s failure to disburse funds.
These recurring issues point to a systemic problem: a lack of accountability and oversight in public-private partnerships, particularly those involving vulnerable populations like Ghana’s youth.
The Way Forward: Calls for Reform and Accountability
The Zoomlion-YEA contract expired in September 2024, and the current acting YEA CEO, Malik Basintale, has indicated he will not renew it in its current form. However, unlike his predecessor, Basintale has not committed to discontinuing the contract entirely.
There is growing pressure from stakeholders, including local assemblies, to allow metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies to manage the sweepers directly, bypassing Zoomlion’s involvement. Such a move could reduce costs, improve accountability, and ensure timely payments to beneficiaries.
Manasseh Azure Awuni’s investigation underscores the urgent need for reform in Ghana’s youth employment programs. The GHS 90 million interest charge is not just a financial burden on the state—it is a symptom of a deeper malaise that prioritizes corporate profits over the welfare of young Ghanaians.
As the country grapples with high youth unemployment and labor market vulnerabilities, the government must adopt a performance-based, data-driven approach to youth employment, as recommended by gbcghanaonline.com. This includes ensuring transparency in contracts, verifying beneficiary numbers, and holding service providers accountable for their obligations.
Ghana’s youth deserve more than broken promises and rebranded versions of failed programs. The Zoomlion-YEA saga is a stark reminder that without systemic change, the cycle of mismanagement and corruption will continue to undermine the very initiatives meant to uplift the nation’s future.
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