Paul Adom-Otchere, a Broadcast journalist and host of Good Evening Ghana on Metro TV, has said investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni and civil society actors have blood on their hands.
According to Paul Adom-Otchere, Manasseh Azure Awuni and other civil society actors misled President John Dramani Mahama into cancelling the contract between the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and waste management firm Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
The veteran journalist claimed that Mahama’s decision to cancel the YEA’s contract with Zoomlion Ghana Limited worsened Ghana’s sanitation challenges that led to the devastating flooding that claimed the lives of several Ghanaians.
Speaking on Good Evening Ghana, Paul Adom-Otchere stated, “15,000 street sweepers have been withdrawn because the Zoomlion contract has been terminated by YEA because Manasseh Azure said that they should terminate the contract”.
So, the president got very bad advice from his civil society people. Tonight, those civil society actors that advise the president wrongly have blood on their hands,” he stated.
According to Paul Adom Otchere, Ghana’s sanitation system had been built over years through collaboration between government, district assemblies, and development partners.
He added, “What has happened is that over the last 10 years there has been progress in securing a certain way in which environmental services provision will be delivered to local assemblies in a manner that supports modernity, in a manner that supports job creation, and in a manner that supports a better and higher standard of living for Ghanaians.
Over the last 10 years, this conversation has been going on with stakeholders in the middle of it, including international organisations and development partners. The conversations came to a conclusion during the Akufo-Addo era,” Adom Otchere noted.
It will be recalled that the Mahama-led government decided not to renew the 19-year-old contract between the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
The presidency, in a letter responding to Manasseh Azure Awuni’s petition, revealed plans not to renew the Zoomlion contract.
President John Dramani Mahama, some months ago, stated that every district would be responsible for its sanitation.
According to John Mahama, the Cabinet will soon meet on the decentralisation of the sanitation budget and make every district responsible for its sanitation.
He further revealed that the performance of MMDAs will be measured by Cleanliness.
Meanwhile, Investigative Journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has disclosed that Ghana’s flooding situation has never been a lack of money but the pouring of money into Jospong, a monopoly that engages in more PR than execution.
According to Manasseh Azure Awuni, GHS 1.5 billion from Ghana’s GHS1.7 billion sanitation and Pollution levy went to Zoomlion and the Jospong Group.
Manasseh Azure, in an X post, shared the Ministry of Finance RTI documents showing 1.73 billion cedis collected from the Sanitation and Pollution Levy between 2021 and 2024, with 1.51 billion cedis disbursed to six companies: Zoomlion Ghana, Sewerage Systems, Waste Landfills, Dredge Masters, Kumasi Compost, and IRECOP.
He highlighted that all recipient companies are subsidiaries of the Jospong Group, owned by Joseph Siaw Agyepong, covering contracts for waste collection, landfills, wastewater treatment, dredging, and sanitation guards across various ministries and regions.
Manasseh Azure further detailed that the Jospong Group also received payments from other public funds like the District Assemblies Common Fund, questioning the impact given ongoing waste management and flooding challenges despite the monopoly on major contracts.
In a post on X, Manasseh wrote, “The Government of Ghana collected 1.7 BILLION CEDIS as the Sanitation and Pollution Levy. All the 1.5 BILLION cedis disbursed from this fund went to companies owned by only one person. Check who is behind these companies.
This is in addition to the fact that Zoomlion and the Jospong Group were also paid from other statutory funds, such as the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), and World Bank-funded sources for their numerous contracts.
The problem has never been about the lack of money. It’s pouring money into a monopoly that engages in more PR than execution”, his post added.
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