Zoomlion hurt by 'damaging' comments from GII Boss

Zoomlion Group of Companies has described as inaccurate, unfair, prejudicial and unwarranted, the claim by Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Vitus Azeem to the effect that, the group sanctions payment of bribes to secure contracts.

The group "categorically and unequivocally" deny the allegation that "any company within the group or indeed the Group as a whole has paid or been sanctioned for the payment of bribes".

Vitus Azeem, on Monday stated on the on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show that the fact that Zoomlion admitted to paying bribes to secure contracts in Liberia, means the company "allows and probably provides funds" for bribery. He added the unnamed official who paid the bribe did not do so "from his personal pocket".

He, therefore, described the debarment of Zoomlion Limited from applying for contracts sponsored by the World Bank group in Liberia, as an embarrassment to Ghana as a country.

But a statement issued on Tuesday by management of the Zoomlion Group said: "Zoomlion is at a loss to fathom the GII reason for jumping onto a single acknowledged infraction to attempt to suggest a pattern of systemic corrupt practices and to call for additional punitive measures in the face of the World Bank’s own public acknowledgment of our exemplary conduct in this affair."

"Zoomlion wants to put on record that the Liberian contract in the eyes of the media storm was won through competitive international bidding organised by the World Bank and its tenure has in fact been extended to December 2014. As is clearly stated by the World Bank in its Press Release, the problem that led to the suspension was related to infractions by the local management of the project to facilitate contract execution and processing of invoices".

The statement maintained that Zoomlion had already recognised the enormity of the misconduct of its Liberian joint venture partners, and taken swift and decisive actions to address and redress the misdemeanours long before the current media reportage and commentary, which fact was also recognized by the World Bank without any equivocation.

The statement is, therefore, demanding that the GII withdraws the "inaccurate, unfair, prejudicial and unwarranted comments which injure Zoomlion’s hard won reputation in Ghana and beyond our shores".