‘Don’t harden your heart’ – Manasseh Azure’s Christmas message to Akufo-Addo

By Nana Prekoh Eric December 24, 2021

Manasseh Awuni Azure has sent a touching Christmas message to President Akufo-Addo, asking him not to “harden his heart”.

The comment is an attempt by the ace journalist to address the low salaries paid to cleaners who work at the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) across the country.

The investigative journalist in his message revealed that each cleaner earns only GH₵180 for the services he/she renders to the state.

He said government pays the cleaners through Zoomlion instead of paying them directly through the assemblies where they do their sweeping job. This arrangement, according to Manasseh, is that the waste management company will take GH₵420 and pay only GH₵180 to the poor sweeper.

Manasseh in his message revealed these cleaners have no health insurance or pension benefit. He chastised the President for failing to do nothing about this “heartless arrangement” he vehemently criticised while in opposition.

“You and your party criticised this wickedness when you were in opposition. In government, you’re continuing it. The truest test of your character is how you treat the vulnerable. I’m appealing to you to end this heartless arrangement so that sweepers can be paid directly” Manasseh wrote.

He, therefore, pleaded with the President not to harden his heart as according to him, he did not come to power to “oppress the poor and enrich a greedy few.”

Read the full Christmas message below:

MY CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO THE PRESIDENT
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Dear President Akufo-Addo,
The sweepers across the country are paid 180 cedis a month out of the 600 cedis allocated to them from the taxpayers’ coffers. Instead of paying them directly through the assemblies they clean, your government pays through Zoomlion. The arrangement is that Zoomlion will take 420 cedis and give the poor sweepers in whose name the youth employment programme was created only 180 cedis.
Zoomlion claims there are 45,000 sweepers on the payroll. This means that each month, 18.9 MILLION GHANA CEDIS goes to Zoomlion while each of the poor workers goes home with 180 cedis ($30).
Sir, put yourself in the shoes of the mothers and fathers who do this work. They have no health insurance or pension or any other benefit. They have families to take care of.
You and your party criticised this wickedness when you were in opposition. In government, you’re continuing it. The truest test of your character is how you treat the vulnerable. I’m appealing to you to end this heartless arrangement so that sweepers can be paid directly.
Don’t harden your heart, please. Christmas message means nothing when you president over this wickedness against the poor using the taxpayers’ money. Ghanaians did not vote for you to come and oppress the poor and enrich a greedy few.
I pray you spare these poor people a thought as you wine and dine this yuletide.
Yours sincerely,
Manasseh Azure Awuni.
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Nana Prekoh Eric

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