LASG’s New Business Partner, Zoomlion, Was Debarred By World Bank For Bribery.

Zoomlion, the company whose partnership the Lagos State Government wants to use to solve its waste management problem, was once debarred by the World Bank for bribing its way into securing a public contract, FIJ has found.

FIJ also found that in other African countries, where Zoomlion built its waste management business over the last two decades, the company has spent years defending itself against audit findings and litigation.

Lagos State Government recently entered into a partnership with Ghanaian waste management giant Zoomlion Ghana Limited to redevelop the Olusosun landfill, one of Africa’s largest dumpsites. Babatunde Sanwo-Olu, the state governor, signed the concessionaire with the company in May.

The state government says the partnership will modernise waste management and convert waste into economic value.

FIJ reviewed World Bank records, reports by Ghana’s Auditor General, government statements and official responses issued by the company.

WORLD BANK DEBARRED ZOOMLION OVER LIBERIA BRIBERY CASE
One of the more controversial episodes in Zoomlion’s corporate history occurred in September 2013, when the World Bank debarred the company for two years.

According to the World Bank, the sanction followed a Negotiated Resolution Agreement reached after investigations into the Emergency Monrovia Urban Sanitation Project, a World Bank-funded project in Liberia.

GHANA’S AUDITOR GENERAL REPEATEDLY QUESTIONED SANITATION CONTRACTS
Beyond the debarment, Zoomlion has been getting the regulatory stick in Ghana through successive Auditor General reports looking into sanitation contracts funded by public money.

FIJ found a detailed audit report by the Ghanaian Government from 2019 — titled ‘REPORT OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL ON THE MANAGEMENT AND UTILISATION OF DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES’ COMMON FUND AND OTHER STATUTORY FUNDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019’ — which mentioned Zoomlion 151 times.

The auditors found contractual lapses that fell into two categories. The first involved instances where auditors said the company failed to supply equipment required under contracts despite continuing to receive payments. The second involved payments auditors questioned because they were made without valid contracts or for work that was not performed.

One of the clearer examples of contractual inconsistency in the report came in the Auditor General’s 2019 report on the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF).

At the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem Municipal Assembly (KEEA) in Ghana’s Central Region, auditors examined Zoomlion’s Sanitation Improvement Package contract and concluded that the company had not fully complied with its contractual obligations despite deductions continuing from the Assembly’s DACF allocation.