In 2008, the NDC campaigned with the “Better Ghana Agenda” slogan and won the election. When I found a company involved in the youth employment corruption scandal I investigated, I assumed it belonged to an NDC big shot.
My search at the Registrar General’s Department revealed that the company, Better Ghana Management Services Limited, belonged to the Jospong Group, headed by Joseph Siaw Agyepong.
The NPP under Kufuor had propped up Jospong/Zoomlion with shady and unconscionable contracts, and when the NDC won the 2008 election, Jospong worked its way into the hearts of the NDC administration.
In 2016, President Mahama said at the climax of Zoomlion’s 10th anniversary that the Jospong CEO, Joseph Siaw Agyepong, was often the first person to come to him after he had delivered the State of the Nation’s Address. The CEO, President Mahama said, would list initiatives he (the president) mentioned in the SONA and tell him how he (Joseph Siaw Agyepong) intended to implement them.
At the programme, John Mahama said, “As long as I remain president, I will do everything to support your business.”
Mahama lost the 2016 presidential election a week after that, and the CEO of Jospong, Joseph Siaw Agyapong, attended the NPP’s victory thanksgiving service.
Under the “incorruptible” Akufo-Addo, Jospong and Zoomlion profited from shady deals, such as the COVID-19 and youth employment contracts.
Last week, someone sent me this photo of the Jospong CEO, Joseph Siaw Agyapong, wearing a shirt that has the inscription “24HR Sanitation Services,” with a Zoomlion logo and the Coat of Arms.
The 24-hour economy has just begun.
Good luck to President Mahama and Jospong.
