The ongoing controversy surrounding sanitation contracts awarded to Zoomlion Ghana Limited has taken a new twist after Gomoa Central MP, Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A-Plus, claimed he received “good money” from the company’s owner to stop criticizing its operations.
According to the MP, in a video posted by investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni on Facebook, he was persistently contacted by Zoomlion Executive Chairman, Joseph Siaw Agyepong, after publishing a critical Facebook post about the company. A-Plus stated that when they eventually met, “he paid me good money to stop writing about him on social media.”
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1C265LrFLx/?mibextid=xfxF2i
This revelation has reignited scrutiny of Zoomlion’s long standing contract with the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), under which the company manages sanitation workers nationwide. The arrangement has often been criticized for offering low wages (reportedly GH¢250 per month) and lacking transparency.
In an exclusive response to The High Street Journal, Mr. Siaw Agyepong flatly denied the allegation, saying, “Please thanks I have not paid a pesewa to anyone.”
Zoomlion, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group, has been at the center of several public interest reports, many led by Manasseh Azure Awuni, who has long questioned the structure and benefits of the YEA-Zoomlion contract.
