*Clears Mills Gov’t from bribery allegations

*Insists no former Gov’t official owns a cent in company

THE GHANA-BASED multi-national sanitation company, ZOOMLION Ghana Limited, last Friday debunked a series of ruling NDC-inspired allegations against the company, including allegations that the Mills-led government has failed to probe the company because both the President and Vice President John Mahama are in the pay books of the company.

The allegations, which were published by pro-NDC newspapers last week, highlighted the launch of two events of ZOOMLION by the President and his Veep as evidence of being in the pay-books of the company.

Speaking on Radio Gold last week after his paper’s publication of a story on alleged “NDC bigwigs and ZOOMLION”, the Editor of the NDC-established Ghanaian Democrat newspaper, Kwabena Boadu, alleged that the Veep was on the payroll of ZOOMLION.

He also accused President Mills of dilly-dally on probing ZOOMLION over selfish reasons.

The basis for his allegation was that both the President and his Veep had recently launched events related to the company, with the President having allegedly relaunched J. A. Plantpool, another company belonging to the ever-expanding company after it had been reportedly launched earlier in 2008 by former President Kufuor.

Speaking at its press conference Friday night, the company debunked the notion that the President and his Veep have any ulterior interest in the company.

The General Manager of ZOOMLION, Mrs Florence Larbi, explained that the President did not also commission an already- commissioned project as alleged because the company had already been launched in 2008 by the time President Mills came there.

Contrary to the claims that President Mills re-commissioned the project because of his interest, Mrs Larbi explained that the President only responded to the invitation to the event because it was to launch a package for the transport sector of the economy under which J. A. Plantpool supplied buses and equipment from its Chinese partners to Ghanaian contractors and transport owners under affordable terms of payment.

The Company Secretary of ZOOMLION and former Board Chairman, Mr Kwame Gyan, who took journalists through the history of the company also noted that J. A. Plantpool was affixed with the name J. A. because the Registrar General’s Department did not want to retain the name PLANTPOOL on the records after ZOOMLION bought the landed property from its original owners.

He dismissed the notion that the initials J. A. meant any other thing than the name of the brain behind JOSPONG group of companies. Mr. Joseph Agyapong.

He also displayed Internal Revenue Service receipts to show that contrary to allegations that the company has not filed its tax returns, ZOOMLION as of the middle of last month (July 14, 2009) had filed tax returns on all its estimated 1500 staff.

He explained that the estimated 24,000 employed youth under the contract between ZOOMLION and the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) are staff of the State paid for by Government through Zoomlion and their statutory tax duties are therefore that of the State.

He also debunked reports that the company is owned by members of the previous Kufuor-led administration, insisting that ZOOMLION belongs to those whose names appear on the records at the Registrar General’s Department.

He also outlined the reasons behind the success of the company since its inception in 2006, saying it’s the result of hard work and borrowing from banks to finance its expansion.

He said the presence of the Vice President at the launch of J. A. Quarry, a company established from the ZOOMLION group to provide quarry stones to contractors at the Bui Dam as well as other contractors in the Western Region, was because of the recognition that the company would provide jobs and pay its corporate taxes.

The company said it had procured loans for its expansion and said Ghanaians must recognise that multinationals relocate profits to their countries of origin and that ZOOMLION, which has recently expanded to other African countries would do same and pay taxes on whatever wealth it generates outside Ghana.

ZOOMLION currently operates in Togo, Guinea, Nigeria and Angola. It has also secured a contract to be one of the main sanitation companies for the upcoming 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Despite all these, elements within the ruling party have openly and clandestinely been pushing for government to engineer the collapse of the company, with some within the ruling party also rallying against such calls, claiming that a collapse would worsen the already serious economic challenges facing the administration. In the view of those against engineering the collapse of the company, allowing a fair competition in the sanitation sector is the best way of ensuring a win-win situation for the government.

Significantly, while some leaders of the NDC rally against the company, credible information suggests that the Northern Regional branch of the NDC have virtually started replacing staff employed under the Zoomlion contract with the Government under the NYEP contract by virtually turning the recruitment process into an NDC event.

Sources say the current politicized nature of the staffing level in Tamale has compelled a lot of its sub-supervisors to tender in their resignation letters.

Following earlier media reports that some leading members of the NDC in Tamale demanded the keys to the company’s vehicles and offices after the 2008 first round elections, it has now been confirmed that staff who were employed during the previous regime are gradually being phased out, with NDC party sympathizers taking up their positions.

Sources say Daniel Martey who was transferred to Tamale from Wa after the presidential run-off election as the Northern Regional Supervisor of Zoomlion has had his office inundated with a tall protocol list of NDC loyalists for recruitment.

An old staff who spoke on grounds of anonymity said majority of the new recruits have refused to report at the main yard where they are usually conveyed to their respective duty posts, boasting that their party is in power and that they will at the end of every month collect salary for no work done.

The latest victim of that circumstance is Mohammed Kudewura, who was then a sub-supervisor in charge of the Tamale Metropolitan area. The immediate past Tamale Metro sub-supervisor disclosed to this paper that the company’s regional authority has violated one of its outstanding principles by giving each NDC Constituency Chairman the chance to submit 40 names for employment. This opportunity, he explained, was previously offered to only all the MPs in the entire Northern Region, which was already dominated by the NDC.

Contacted, Daniel Martey, the Regional Supervisor confirmed the latest development in the company but denied that it was borne out of political interference.