The Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Kofi Baah Agyepong, has called for the suspension of YEA’s contract with Zoomlion Ghana Limited due to the company’s failure to pay sanitation workers for over a year. This move follows complaints from workers who have been unpaid for months without a clear explanation.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Agyepong explained that during a meeting on May 29, 2024, the YEA board proposed changes to its management agreement with Zoomlion. The proposal, sent to Zoomlion on May 31, suggested that YEA take over the direct payment of sanitation workers’ allowances. However, Zoomlion rejected this idea, insisting that the contract be renewed to secure credit from financial institutions, delaying worker payments further.
The new proposal from YEA would pay workers directly GH₵250 and Zoomlion GH₵600 per worker for management. Zoomlion, however, seeks control over both the GH₵600 management fee and the workers’ GH₵250, which they’ve been defaulting on for over a year.
YEA has now proposed suspending the contract and allowing Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to take over street cleaning duties until a solution is found. The agency also suggested a meeting with the Ministry of Finance to resolve the outstanding payments.
In response, Zoomlion’s Director of Communications, Emma Osei-Duah, admitted to payment delays but clarified the unpaid period is nine months, not a year. She attributed the delay to the structure of their contract with YEA, which requires pre-financing of payments before reimbursement, and ongoing discussions between both parties.
