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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)
Ahyiresu and Abofrem, two quiet communities in the Atwima Mponua District, have been shaken to the core by a chilling midnight drama that reads like a nightmare.
A pastor and a young mother stand accused of attempting to bury a five‑month‑old baby girl alive, a crime that has ignited outrage and disbelief across the township.
According to police, Apostle Richmond Akwasi Frimpong, 36, Head Pastor of the Anointed Grace Prayer Ministry at Kuffour Camp, conspired with his uncle Emmanuel Appiah, 53, and the child’s mother, 23‑year‑old Beatrice Agyapomaa, to dispose of the infant, Anaya Achiaa, under the cover of darkness.
A fourth suspect, Emmanuel Donkor, remains on the run.
The suspects were caught near a refuse dump around 10 pm on April 9, 2026, after a vigilant resident, Akwasi Twezor, noticed their suspicious movements.
When confronted, they claimed the child was already dead and had palace approval for burial. But Twezor’s instincts proved right—the baby was still alive, gasping faintly for breath.
Chief Linguist, Nana Yaw Badu, later confirmed that Frimpong had misled him earlier in the evening, securing permission for burial by falsely declaring the child dead.
The infant was rushed to the Abofrem Clinic, where she is now responding well to treatment. Police described her as “very beautiful.”
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Evelyn Yitamkey, Commander of DOVVSU in Bibiani, confirmed that the suspects have been provisionally charged.
Frimpong faces attempted murder and conspiracy charges, while Agyapomaa and Appiah are charged with conspiracy and abetment.
They were remanded by the Bibiani Circuit Court, presided over by Judge Frank Asiedu Nimako, to assist investigations.
The docket has been forwarded to the Attorney General’s Department for advice, ASP Yitamkey indicated.
The attempted crime has provoked fury among residents, many suspecting ritual motives aimed at bolstering the pastor’s influence.
Crowds attempted to attack the suspects outside court, but police intervention prevented mob justice.
The Assembly Member for Ahyiresu, Yusuf Suleiman, has assured residents that justice will be pursued swiftly.
From Kingsley E. Hope, Kumasi
The forecourt of the African University of Communications and Business (AUCB) in Accra came alive on Friday with colour, creativity and innovation, as Level 300 students transformed the space into a lively exhibition of ideas.
Under the theme “Building meaningful brands beyond the logo,” the students invited patrons into a world where ordinary products were reimagined through storytelling, design and purpose.
From scented candles to innovative food concepts, each stand told a unique story, one that went beyond aesthetics to capture identity, value and human connection.
For many of the students, the event was more than just an academic exercise; it was a moment to dream out loud.
Guided by their lecturer, Peter Wonders, they explored what it truly means to build a brand in today’s competitive world where trust, consistency and experience matter just as much as logos and slogans.
Chairman of the occasion, Nana Kum Gyata VI, in his remarks said a brand is what people say about you when you are not present.
At the end of the presentations, awards were presented to deserving groups with Vida Nyaneba emerging as the overall best branding student.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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