When the Akufo-Addo government introduced the Sanitation and Pollution Levy (SPL) in 2021, it was presented as a bold intervention to tackle Ghana’s worsening sanitation and air pollution crisis. The levy imposed a 10-pesewa charge on every litre of fuel consumed by Ghanaians, with assurances that the proceeds would be used to improve waste management, enhance air quality in urban areas, and fund modern waste treatment and disposal facilities.
But even before the levy took effect, Duncan Amoah, Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), sounded a strong warning.
He opposed the tax, not only because it would push fuel prices up, but because he doubted the government’s commitment to using the funds for their stated purpose.
“Anybody can slap any tax at all, but at the end of the day, were they even using the money for what they were collecting it for?” Amoah asked at the time. “My answer will be a big no.”
Four years on, he believes events have proven him right.
GH¢1.73 Billion Collected, Cities Still Dirty
Between 2021 and 2024, the Sanitation and Pollution Levy generated GH¢1.73 billion. Yet Ghana’s towns and cities, according to Amoah, are “even dirtier” than before the levy was introduced.
His frustration is rooted in how the funds were spent.
Records show that GH¢1.48 billion—about 80% of all SPL revenues—was paid to a single conglomerate: the Jospong Group of Companies.
A Trail of Payments to Jospong Subsidiaries
The first SPL payments went to Sewerage Systems Ghana Limited (SSGL) in 2021, a Jospong subsidiary that manages its own facilities—the Mudor Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Lavender Hill Faecal Waste Treatment Plant in Jamestown, Accra.
In 2022, another Jospong company, Waste Landfills Company Limited, received payments to manage landfill sites across the country. That same year, Dredge Masters, also under the Jospong umbrella, was paid to dredge the heavily polluted Odaw River and Korle Lagoon in Accra.
In the Ashanti Region, Kumasi Compost and Recycling Plant Limited (KCARP) was paid tipping fees for solid waste management between October 2020 and March 2022. Notably, KCARP began receiving SPL funds in October 2020, several months before the levy was even introduced, raising questions about how SPL-linked payments were made retroactively.
Zoomlion’s Windfall
Perhaps the most recognisable Jospong subsidiary, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, received multiple large payments from the levy.
In 2022, Zoomlion was paid millions of cedis to supervise and manage sanitation guards nationwide. The company also received over GH¢115 million for disinfecting airports and aviation facilities and for collecting and disposing of COVID-19 vaccination waste.
In 2023, Zoomlion received GH¢288.8 million to evacuate 250 refuse dumpsites in 78 districts, in addition to payments for sanitation services provided the previous year.
Hundreds of Millions for “Outstanding Payments”
By 2024, another Jospong subsidiary, Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant Limited (IRECOP), had received hundreds of millions of cedis described as “outstanding payments” for overseeing recycling and compost plants across the country.
That same year alone, the Jospong Group received GH¢505 million from the Sanitation and Pollution Levy.
This translates to over GH¢42 million every month, or more than GH¢1 million every single day, paid by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.
Levy Repurposed, Questions Unanswered
Ironically, the levy that was introduced to clean Ghana has now been repurposed by the Mahama government to settle energy sector debts, effectively abandoning its original sanitation mandate.
For Duncan Amoah, this only confirms what he suspected from the start: that the levy was never truly about sanitation outcomes.
Despite nearly GH¢1.73 billion collected, open drains still overflow, refuse piles dominate urban centres, and waste burning remains common.
The numbers tell a troubling story—one where billions were collected in the name of sanitation, most of it paid to one corporate group, yet the lived reality for Ghanaians shows little improvement.
As cities remain choked with filth, the fundamental question persists:
Was the Sanitation and Pollution Levy ever about sanitation—or just another guaranteed revenue stream?
Source: The Fourth Estate.