Video: Manasseh is coming, no one should speak with him

In conducting the investigation titled "Robbing the Assemblies," Manasseh Azure Awuni said he was confronted by a directive from the Jospong Group of companies warning district assembly officials not to speak to him. The directive was specific: "Don't speak to Manasseh” and was  circulated to inhibit him from gaining access to the information concerning the contract.

A nine-month research by the journalist revealed that the Local Government Ministry awarded a contract to five companies to supply one million waste bins and 900,000 bin liners at a cost of $74, 040,000  (GHc318million).

“There were some workers who told me, ‘we have had information not to speak to you’, but I managed to squeeze some information from even those who were aware”, Manasseh said.

He disclosed that the circular was issued within the Jospong group, where upon his visit to some of the district supervisors he was informed they were not permitted to speak to him on the issue.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with primenewsghana.com, Manasseh said some of the assemblies lacked the basic means to distribute the waste bins, citing lack of fuel and bicycles to collect waste. Others admitted they had not been able to distribute a single waste bin.

“Yet monies which are supposed to be used for developing those areas have rather been used in procuring waste bins and bin liners which are not needed there.”

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The cost of the one million waste bins is $60 million while the cost of the bin liners is $14, 040,000. These amounts do not include Value Added Tax.

It emerged after investigations that all the five companies handpicked by the ministry to supply the waste bins are subsidiaries of the Jospong Group of companies.

Manasseh further stated that the government had also not been cooperative in his investigations since he had still not been given the opportunity to meet the Minister for Local government and rural developments despite numerous attempts.

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 Read also: Scandal! Waste bins contract to jospong inflated by about GHS130m

www.primenewsghana.com/ Ghana News