Cancellation of Zoomlion contract worsens Accra flooding

By Ama Nkansah Ofori Atta, Communications consultant

In the wake of this year’s rainy season, Accra, Ghana’s capital city, is experiencing severe flooding. This is not an exaggeration. The slightest rainfall now turns the national capital into a disaster zone. For houses built on and along waterways, the least said about them the better. Their residents wake up every morning fearing the next downpour.

So far, areas hit hard include Kaneshie Market and its environs, Agbogbloshie, Mallam, Madina, Santa Maria, and many others. What has compounded matters is that the rains have shown no signs of easing. If for anything at all, we should be bracing ourselves for more rains.

It is as if the floodgates of heaven have been opened upon Accra and, by extension, Ghana.

But here is the question that no one in authority seemed willing to answer honestly until now: Why is this happening after successive years of relative calm?

For so many years, it has rained in Accra. Sometimes heavily.

Yet the floods have not been this destructive for the past years. That is not a coincidence. It is not climate change alone. It is not just population growth. It is something much closer to home: poor sanitation, political retribution, and cancelled contracts.

The Minister Has Spoken:Termination Worsened Everything

On Saturday, June 6, as part of activities marking World Environment Day (Friday, June 6), the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, made a stunning admission in Takoradi, Western Region. Speaking clearly and publicly, the Minister confirmed that the termination of Zoomlion’s contract under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) has worsened sanitation issues in our cities and metropolises.

Let that sink in. A sitting government minister has now officially stated that cancelling the contract made things worse.

According to the Minister, Zoomlion was responsible for keeping our cities and metropolises clean, and they did it efficiently. That continued until some Ghanaians and NGOs came out to argue that Ghanaians could do the job themselves, and that the assemblies should be given the funds to clean our municipalities and cities.

Two Contracts, One Mess – Now Confirmed

We have been saying it all along. Two key contracts with Zoomlion, one for dredging choked drains and waterways, and another for street cleansing, were cancelled very emotionally. Not based on data. Not based on a transition plan. Cancelled because of sheer politics and assumptions.

For over one year now, no one has been sweeping the streets of Accra. No dredging. No discipline. And the Minister has just confirmed that.

The Assemblies Boasted – And Failed

The Minister went further. He revealed that the assemblies were very loud and ignorant that Zoomlion’s contract should be terminated, insisting that they, the assemblies, could do the job themselves. They demanded the funds. They argued that Ghanaians did not need Zoomlion.

So the contract was terminated. The money was given to the assemblies.

Now, the Minister asks the question that every resident of Accra is shouting: Since that decision was made, what has been the result? Have the assemblies employed people to do the sweeping?

The answer is painfully clear: No.

The Minister himself said: “So far, I have not set my eyes on any people who have been engaged by the assemblies to sweep our cities. So we have succeeded in terminating Zoomlion’s contract, but the assemblies have also not employed people to sweep the cities. Tell me, why would our cities not be dirty?”

After taking over, what has come out of it? You cannot do the job. The results are there for all to see.

Flooded markets. Choked gutters. Filth everywhere.

45,000 Young People Thrown Out of Work

There is more. The Minister also revealed a staggering human and economic cost. Following the termination of the contract, Zoomlion has not been providing services since 2025. Now we are in 2026, and they are still not working.

But the damage goes beyond uncollected waste. The 45,000 Ghanaians who were engaged under the YEA programme for the cleaning jobs that Zoomlion was handling have all been terminated. That money was given to the assemblies, yet the assemblies have proven that they cannot do the job.

Forty-five thousand young people. No work. No income. And the cities are dirtier than ever.

We Have Gone Back 15 Years

Let the authorities be reminded again: the non‑renewal of these contracts has taken us back 15 years. Fifteen years ago, Accra was visibly filthy. Drains choked. Street sweeping is inconsistent. Dredging is a rare event. Then, through private sector participation, the city became cleaner. Floods became less destructive.

Now, in less than two years, all that progress has been erased because a political decision was made without a working alternative.

Politics Eats Into Everything—And the Minister Agrees

The minister’s statement is extraordinary because it admits, from within the government, that the policy has failed. The assemblies demanded the job. They swore they could do it. They received the funds. And they have done nothing.

We have the capacity to solve our own sanitation problems. We have dredging machines, trucks, labour, engineering know‑how. But politics eats into everything. Decisions are made not on what works, but on who is connected to which party.

Ghana Hasn’t Seen Anything Yet

Let me say this plainly to the authorities, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, the Ministry of Sanitation, the Ministry of Local Government, and the Office of the President:

“You haven’t seen anything yet”.

The rains are only beginning. The major rainy season is still ahead. The drains are already full. The waterways are already compromised. And unless there is an immediate emergency intervention, unless dredging resumes tonight, unless street sweeping restarts tomorrow, the coming weeks will bring floods that will make today’s disasters look like puddles.

The Minister has spoken. The problem is confirmed. Now the question is, what will be done about it?

A Big Problem That Requires Immediate Action

The Minister for Local Government himself called it “a big problem.” He is right.

The assemblies cannot do the job. The 45,000 YEA workers are gone. Zoomlion has been idle since 2025. The drains are choked. The floods are killing livelihoods. And the rains are not stopping.

Nobody is asking for favours. Ghanaians are asking for common sense: restore the dredging and street cleansing capacity immediately through Zoomlion. And do it now. Because right now, doing nothing is a political choice, and doing something is a life-changing decision as Accra is drowning in it.

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