News
Manasseh petitions President Mahama over YEA- Zoomlion contract
Ace investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni has petitioned President Mahama over the Youth Employment Agency and Zoomlion contract.
According to him, under the last contract that expired in September 2024, GHS850 was allocated to each sweeper. Zoomlion keeps GHS600 and pays the sweepers GHS250 a month, according to the contract.
He added that Zoomlion also charges interest if the YEA delays in paying the company for three months. In 2024, Zoomlion charged an interest of GHS90 million.
Read the full petition below
Earlier this week, I formally petitioned the President of the Republic, John Dramani Mahama, to discontinue the 19-year-old contract between the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
Under the last contract that expired in September 2024, 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, Zoomlion charged an interest of GHS90 million.
Yesterday, Zoomlion revealed that its latest proposal is “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 said its headcount showed that 38,884 sweepers were on the ground, contrary to 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.
I have proposed to the President that the contract be discontinued so that the assemblies and the YEA can supervise the sweepers. In this way, the assemblies can have direct control of the sweepers, who are paid with the assemblies’ share of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF).
If Zoomlion is eliminated as the middleman, the sweepers will enjoy better wages and be motivated to show up and work to keep the nation clean.
Zoomlion has a separate contract that charges all the assemblies to lift the refuse collected by the YEA sweepers to the dumping sites. This contract, the Sanitation Improvement Package (SIP), requires waste trucks, which some assemblies do not have because a chunk of their budget is deducted to pay Zoomlion.
I have proposed to the President that the assemblies could maintain the SIP contract with Zoomlion, since its immediate termination could cause sanitation challenges.
When I investigated GYEEDA (now YEA) in 2013, President Mahama took drastic actions, including terminating contracts, passing the YEA Act, prosecuting and jailing two persons, and retrieving funds.
With the documentary evidence I submitted with the petition, I am confident that the President will terminate the Zoomlion contract, which is the only YEA contract that was not cancelled after my 2013 investigations, even though the GYEEDA report President Mahama commissioned made serious adverse findings against Zoomlion.
I wish to thank all who have supported and continue to support me in this campaign to stop the massive corruption associated with the YEA-Zoomlion contract and bring justice to the poor sweepers.
We hope President Mahama will not fail us, the sweepers, and our dear nation.
Singed.
Manasseh Azure Awuni
(Investigative Journalist)
A 29-year-old tricycle rider, Naah Mashood, has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour for defiling a three-year-old girl at Tiegber in the Wa Municipality.
The Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Upper West Regional Police Command arrested the suspect on February 24, 2026, following a complaint lodged by the victim’s mother.
According to police, the convict, who had been contracted by the parents to pick the victim to and from school, lured her to an isolated location on February 23, 2026, and sexually assaulted her inside his tricycle, popularly known as ‘Camboo’.
After thorough investigations, he was arraigned before the Wa District Magistrate Court and subsequently stood trial at the Wa High Court.
On October 30, 2026, His Lordship Justice Osei-Wusu found him guilty of defilement and sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour.
The Upper West Regional Police Command has commended the officers involved in the investigation and prosecution, as well as all persons who contributed to ensuring justice was served.
The Command urged parents and guardians to keep a close eye on their children and ensure their safety at all times, and encouraged the public to report suspected cases of child abuse and defilement to the nearest police station or DOVVSU office for prompt action.
It further assured the public of its commitment to protecting children and ensuring perpetrators of sexual offences are brought to justice.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The Ashanti Regional Police Command has announced the arrest of three suspected members of a criminal syndicate believed to be behind a series of robberies targeting bank customers in Kumasi and its environs.
On October 31, 2026, at about 11:30 pm, an IGP’s Special Team, comprising personnel from the Anti-Armed Robbery Unit of the CID Headquarters and the Accra Regional Police Intelligence Directorate (PID), acting on intelligence, embarked on an operation to apprehend the suspects.
The operation led to the arrest of two Nigerian nationals, Aboy Promise, 30, and Favour Uwalaka, 45, at a hotel at Moshie Zongo. A search of their rooms resulted in the recovery of GH¢1,600.00, assorted mobile phones, a Royal motorbike and a master key used to gain unauthorized access to victims’ vehicles to steal cash.
During interrogation, the suspects admitted their involvement in the robberies and mentioned two accomplices, Chinedu, alias Alhaji, and Kingsley, alias KC.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the syndicate monitored banking premises, identified customers who withdrew substantial sums of money and trailed them before attacking and robbing them. They also broke into unattended vehicles belonging to bank customers using a master key to steal cash kept inside.
The suspects subsequently led the police team to another hotel at Dechemso, a suburb of Kumasi, where Kingsley, alias KC, 35, also a Nigerian national, was arrested.
The remaining accomplice, Chinedu, alias Alhaji, is currently on the run. The Command is appealing to the public to volunteer credible information that could lead to his arrest. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to report to the nearest police station or contact the police through emergency numbers 191, 112 or the toll-free MTN and Telecel line 18555.
The suspects admitted to robbing a victim of GH¢15,000.00 at Asokore Mampong on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, after the victim had withdrawn money from Kwamang Rural Bank. They also admitted to similar robberies at the Atonsu branch of Fidelity Bank, the Ahodwo branch of Access Bank and other locations within Kumasi and its environs.
The three arrested suspects have since been handed over to the Ashanti Regional Police Command and are assisting with investigations.
The Command has cautioned bank customers to remain vigilant, be alert to suspicious persons around banking premises and avoid leaving cash or other valuables unattended in vehicles, while commending the public for their continued cooperation and assuring residents of its commitment to combating robbery and other criminal activities in the region.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
