Ghana has been ranked the fourth dirtiest city in West Africa due to the country’s inability to manage domestic and industrial waste properly in its capital city, Accra.
The city is engulfed in irrepressible filth and still suffers open defecation amidst several sanitation campaigns with efforts by previous governments to improve the situation yielding very little result.
The situation forced the National Democratic Congress administration led by former President John Dramani Mahama to introduce the National Sanitation Day in 2014, to engage citizens in cleanup exercises on the first Saturday of every month.
The programme was functional and very helpful at the initial stages but as a result of inexplicable reasons, it has become dysfunctional in the past few months.
At his installation ceremony as Chief in Jamestown, a suburb of Accra, President Akufo-Addo, however, pledged his commitment in achieving in 4 years, what his predecessors failed to achieve.
“The commitment I want to make, and for all of us to make, is that by the end of my term in office, Accra will be the cleanest city on the entire African continent. That is the commitment I am making,” he declared.
The situation is not different in Accra, where residents are unable to keep their own homes and working environments tidy. A tour around streets of Accra is an eyesore as the first sight that meets the eyes are piles of solid wastes gathered on streets in the capital. Gutters are choked with both solid and liquid human excreta with unbearable smell.
Some residents of Newtown in Accra who have been speaking to www.ghanaweb.com on the subject are of the view that, if the president will be able to achieve his goal in declaring Accra the cleanest city in Africa in 4 years, he must put in necessary measures in place.
The President must have a strong supervision body to ensure residents keep their surroundings clean and safe. Also making Accra clean must be a collective responsibility of all Ghanaians especially those living in the capital city. All must be inclusive and support the government in whichever decision or programme he’s yet to introduce in that effect.
Watch what people think about Accra becoming the cleanest city in Africa
