Published: July 8, 2025
MONROVIA – President William R. Tolbert’s Liberianization Policy, introduced in 1976, was primarily designed to give Liberians a foothold within their own economy. Among other benefits, the Policy earmarks about 17 businesses exclusively for Liberian-only participation. The Liberianization Policy also ensures that Immigration and Labor authorities grant residence and work permits to expatriate workers of foreign companies only if there are no available and qualified Liberians that can perform those jobs that the foreign companies are bringing in their expats to perform.
But as this investigation uncovers, amid the current uproar emanating from the Liberian Senate over loopholes being exploited by officials of the Liberian government to deprive Liberian workers to benefit from the Liberian Policy, the citizens are equally worried over news that Ghanaian-based Zoomlion is about to be awarded a lucrative US$200M waste management through back door channels with the help of top government officials, a situation pundits believe could augur negatively for the Liberianization Policy, because in their view, many Liberians could be sidelined by the influx of Ghanaian workers who will be performing jobs meant for the available and qualified Liberians.
For a company that is facing tremendous difficulties back home in Ghana, evidenced by the current Ghanaian authorities cancelling their waste management contract over perennial delays in paying their workers, amid violations in contractual agreements with the Ghanaian Assemblies over municipal obligations, Liberians here are extremely worried that this corruption-laden companies whose labor modus operandi is strewn with bad practices, is going to be awarded such a lucrative contract through back door dealings abetted by some key government officials, a deal that will leave Liberians stranded from employment opportunity, and Liberian workers exploited by Zoomlion’s exploitative tendencies.
According to informed sources, Zoomlion, who is no stranger to waste management in Liberia, has a doctorate degree in working around influential government officials. They were banned by the World Bank in 2013 for bribing unnamed government officials and providing false invoice information.
Zoomlion’s reentry into Liberia
But of equal concern is what this Ghanaian firm’s reentry could mean for the Liberian economy, and the prospects for closing the unemployment gap in an economy ravaged by years of bad governance and civil conflict.
“Zoomlion will help to keep our people out of jobs. They will bring their own people as sweepers and operators of trucks and other machineries for which our people should be prioritized. Zoomlion was here before. They did the same thing. Nothing will change,” says a former Zoomlion supervisor who is hesitant over the welcoming news of such a huge foreign direct investment in the waste management sector.
“To be frank, I don’t trust those guys. Look at how they treated their own people in Ghana. What do you expect they will do when they come back in Liberia? Our government officials don’t care for the people. They will take money from Zoomlion, give them the contract, and when the mess hits the fan, we will be left on our own,” says Willie De Gaul of Brewerville.
“Granting Zoomlion another chance to get into our waste management sector will be disastrous because Ghanaians will take over our jobs without even applying for residence and work permits due to ECOWAS protocols. Their people will come here in their numbers, whether by canoes or road, they will come and deprive our workers of employment opportunities while our government looks the other way,” a staff of the Labor Ministry, who sought anonymity, said.
It can be recalled how the Labor Ministry recently came under a barrage of criticisms when it was disclosed that Minister Cooper W. Kruah personally granted a six-month work permit waiver to 42 Chinese nationals, bypassing established legal and procedural requirements.
The discovery came in the wake of the Liberian Senate citing Labor and Immigration authorities over what was said to be serious breaches in the Liberianization Policy wherein Liberians were sidelined for jobs performed by foreigners in the event when qualified and available Liberian workers were not sought.
“Zoomlion will not help our situation. Our lawmakers are doing their best but the willpower depends on the Executive to actualize the Liberianization Policy,” says businessman Martin Sorbor.
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