Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has pushed back against the Youth Employment Agency's (YEA) indication that the controversial sanitation module contract with Zoomlion Ghana Limited will be reviewed, insisting that the arrangement must be scrapped altogether.
In a letter addressed to YEA CEO Malik Basintale and shared publicly on Friday, April 25, 2025, Manasseh described the contract-under which Zoomlion receives GH¢850 per sanitation worker and pays them only GH¢250-as "evil" and "unnecessary." "Thank you for the reassurance that the contract in its current form will not be renewed because it is evil.
This is a good step," Manasseh wrote. "However, the issue is not about reviewing the contract or renewing it in another form.
It must be discontinued completely." According to the award-winning journalist, the sanitation workers should be managed directly by the district assemblies, which are capable of supervising them without the involvement of a third-party contractor based in Accra. "The Bongo District Assembly can supervise its sweepers without a contract being awarded in Accra to that effect," he noted, arguing that removing the middleman would ensure that workers are paid directly and in full.
