Accra, Ghana – Newly appointed Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Ocloo, has come under intense public scrutiny following her decision to partner with waste management giant, Zoomlion, in a bid to tackle the capital’s sanitation challenges.
Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has strongly criticized the move, arguing that Zoomlion’s long-standing contracts with successive governments have failed to address Accra’s persistent sanitation problems.
In a scathing open letter titled “Linda Ocloo is Courting Corruption, Not Solution,” Awuni accused the minister of reinforcing a system riddled with corruption instead of seeking innovative solutions.
According to Awuni, Zoomlion and its parent company, the Jospong Group, have been implicated in multiple corruption scandals, both in Ghana and internationally.
He cited a 2013 World Bank investigation that led to Zoomlion’s ban in Liberia after the company admitted to bribery in the execution of a World Bank-financed sanitation project.
Domestically, Zoomlion has held monopoly contracts in Ghana’s sanitation sector since 2006, despite repeated criticisms of inefficiency.
The company manages sweeping services, waste collection, fumigation, and final disposal, often at exorbitant costs to the state. Investigations have revealed that Zoomlion receives significant government funds upfront, sometimes before executing contracts.
A 2022 report by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) also found that the Youth Employment Authority (YEA), which oversees Zoomlion’s sanitation module, could not verify the actual number of workers under the program, raising concerns about ghost names and financial mismanagement.
Awuni stressed that Accra’s sanitation woes stem from government policies that divert waste management responsibilities from metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs) to Zoomlion.
He argued that allowing assemblies to directly manage their own sanitation operations would yield better results, as they would have greater control over funds and personnel.
The journalist also warned that previous attempts to challenge Zoomlion’s dominance had led to political fallout, citing the case of former Sanitation Minister Joseph Kofi Adda, who blamed the company for Ghana’s filth and was later removed from office.
With mounting public dissatisfaction over sanitation management in Ghana’s capital, critics are calling on Linda Ocloo to reconsider her approach and prioritize accountability and efficiency over entrenched monopolies.
Whether she will heed these concerns or proceed with her partnership with Zoomlion remains to be seen.
Story By: Robicon Mornahson
