Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Malik Basintale, has vowed not to renew the controversial Zoomlion contract under its current terms—describing the arrangement “an insult to Ghanaian youth.”
In a strongly worded social media post, on Friday April 25, 2025, Basintale swore on his late father’s tomb in his intention not to see the deal go through.
“I promise on my honour, as I stand by the grave of my late dad, NOT to renew the contract in its current state or form.”
Malik Basintale, who assumed office following the National Democratic Congress’ return to power, framed the contract as a symbol of systemic exploitation, pledging reform and a complete reset of how sanitation workers are employed and compensated in Ghana.
“If my mother, brother or sister were a Zoomlion worker, I wouldn’t be happy with them receiving GH₵250 as salary,” he wrote. “I can’t be happy with your mother, father, brother or sister taking the same.”
He also announced a Facebook Live session for 8 PM tonight to engage the public on the way forward.
The vows of Malik Basintale follow mounting public criticism—led by award-winning investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni, who has consistently called out the opaque nature of the sanitation module between YEA and Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
At the heart of the issue is a sanitation module under the YEA, in which cleaners are paid GH₵250 monthly, while Zoomlion, the private contractor managing the scheme, retains GH₵600 per worker out of a total GH₵850 monthly allocation from the state.
Despite government payments supposedly covering over 45,000 workers, several reports—including leaked letters from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA)—indicate that the actual number of sweepers on the ground is unverifiable. In some cases, the assemblies have had to hire their own cleaners due to absenteeism and underperformance from Zoomlion’s supposed workforce.
Manasseh also urged the new YEA boss to “act in the interest of the youth” and resist efforts to revive a contract that has left cleaners across the country impoverished.
“If someone’s work is worth 250 cedis a month, why must the supervisor be paid 600 to manage that worker?”
He cited findings from multiple administrations—including the Mahama and Akufo-Addo eras—suggesting that both political parties knew of the contract’s flaws, yet failed to act decisively. A 2018 audit by then-YEA CEO Justin Frimpong Kodua also revealed a significant gap between the number of cleaners Zoomlion claimed to manage and the actual count.
