Former Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Kofi Agyepong, has strongly denied allegations that his administration blocked a salary increase for beneficiaries under the YEA module operated by Zoomlion.
His response comes after recent claims made by Zoomlion, suggesting that the previous YEA administration rejected proposals to raise allowances for sanitation workers.
“I wish to categorically state that no such counter-proposal was made by the YEA during my tenure as CEO,” Agyepong said in a statement released to clarify the matter.
He explained that during his leadership, the YEA proposed a GHS 500 allowance per beneficiary—an amount he described as financially realistic considering budgetary limitations.
In contrast, Zoomlion proposed a GHS 1,308 allowance, of which GHS 888 would be retained by the company as a management fee, leaving only GHS 420 for the actual beneficiary.
“This proposal, in our view, was excessive, unjustified, and deeply unfair to the sweepers. It was rejected outright by my management and Board, and we formally communicated our disapproval to Zoomlion,” he noted.
Agyepong clarified that deliberations on this matter concluded during their 2024 contract renewal meeting, contrary to suggestions that discussions were ongoing. According to him, attention later shifted to issues such as payment flow and logistics management.
He called on Zoomlion to adopt a more transparent approach and urged the public not to interpret efforts to scrutinize or reform the Zoomlion-YEA relationship as partisan, but rather as part of a broader fight for fairness and accountability.
See full statement below:
