Julius Debrah, Collins Dauda fingered in $74 million Zoomlion scandal

Award-winning investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has provided a detailed breakdown of the actors and events behind the controversial $74 million waste bins contract scandal involving the Jospong Group of Companies.

In a social media post summarising years of investigative work, Manasseh named key government officials and entities involved, including former Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, former Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Collins Dauda, CEO of the Jospong Group Joseph Siaw Agyepong, and the Public Procurement Authority (PPA).

Julius Debrah – Former Chief of Staff

In 2016, then Chief of Staff Julius Debrah directed the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Collins Dauda, to procure one million waste bins for household distribution nationwide. He also wrote to the Minister for Finance to ensure budgetary provision for the bins in the 2017 national budget.

While Manasseh found no evidence of Debrah’s involvement in the procurement or price inflation, he raised concerns over the lack of due diligence. At the time, the Ministry had already procured 155,000 waste bins from Qualiplast. However, only 100,000 had been delivered and were largely unused across rural Ghana, where the demand for household waste bins was low. An additional 55,000 bins remained undelivered.

Debrah had previously served as Minister for Local Government and should have been aware of these distribution challenges before ordering the procurement of one million more bins.

Collins Dauda – Former Local Government Minister

As Local Government Minister, Collins Dauda oversaw the awarding of the $74 million contract to five companies, all subsidiaries of the Jospong Group. Despite the existence of capable local plastic manufacturers, none were selected.

The contract covered the supply of one million waste bins and 900,000 bin liners. According to Manasseh’s investigation, the total value was inflated by $34.3 million. He independently obtained invoices from the same Jospong companies that showed significant price discrepancies.

For instance, while the government was billed $15.60 per bin liner, Jospong sold the same liners to Manasseh at $0.23 each. Based on the latter price, the total cost of 900,000 liners should have been $207,000, not the $14 million stated in the contract.

Manasseh questioned why the minister failed to challenge the clearly inflated figures, especially for simple disposable polythene liners.

Joseph Siaw Agyepong – CEO, Jospong Group

CEO of the Jospong Group, Joseph Siaw Agyepong, announced at a December 2016 Zoomlion durbar that his companies had distributed 200,000 free waste bins and planned to distribute one million more in 2017. However, a month earlier, in November 2016, his companies had secured the $74 million government contract for the same bins and liners.

Invoices obtained by Manasseh show that the companies were aware of the inflated prices in the government contract. Given Mr. Agyepong’s direct involvement in major government contracts, it is unlikely he was unaware of the discrepancies.

Manasseh also referenced another controversial deal involving Zoomlion’s sweeping contract with the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), where GHS850 is allocated per sweeper, with GHS600 retained by Zoomlion and only GHS250 paid to each worker.

Public Procurement Authority (PPA)

The Local Government Ministry, under Collins Dauda, requested sole-sourcing approval from the PPA to handpick Jospong companies for the contract. The justification was to urgently avert a cholera outbreak during the rainy season—though the request was made in October, leading into the dry season.

The PPA granted approval without raising questions about the sole-sourcing choice or the inflated prices.

Contract Cancellation and Aftermath

Manasseh’s investigation led to the cancellation of the $74 million contract. At the time of the exposé, the waste bins had not yet been delivered, and no payment had been made.

He also assisted police investigations into this and another fumigation contract awarded to 11 Jospong companies. Despite more than GHS200 million being paid under the fumigation deal, no prosecution has taken place, and the funds have not been recovered.