MMDCEs Must Implement The Sanitation Bye-Laws With Immediate Effects

The president of the Republic of Ghana (Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo) has said more can be done in the fight against filth and making the capital the cleanest city in Africa. Again, according to President Akufo-Addo, apart from continuing with the education and sensitizing people, the government intends to use the bye-laws to enforce cleanliness.

He further said the Justice and Attorney General and the Sanitation and Natural Resources Ministry will be working together to try sanitation offences. The question is how serious is this statement? Again, is it only Accra that can be made clean? The answer is no! We have seen how some people are being prosecuted when they litter or dump anyhow in Accra but this is unsatisfactory. Sanitation is a global canker and we need to fight it holistically and not only Accra.

According to the World Bank, Global waste to grow by 70 per cent by 2050 unless urgent action is taken. Again, nations and cities urbanize, develop economically, and grow in terms of populations, and it is, therefore, estimated that waste generation will increase from 2.01 billion tones to 3.40 billion tones in 2050.

Clean Ghana Club shares the same vision with the president however, we have noticed that virtually, the entire Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies have fine bye-laws to combat the sanitation offences but the implementation is the problem now. Henceforth, we are going to take the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) on if they do not implement the bye-laws particularly the sanitation bye laws. Today, we are in this country when lawless citizens just litter anyhow and go escort free without being penalized.

The country has become so dirty in a way that every corner you pass you see filth and why won’t flooding swallow us. The little rain fall you see flooding all over the country. There are a lot of citizens who dump their waste into our river bodies and gutters which get them choked and when it rains the place becomes flooded, reiterated. We used to have sanitation guards popularly known as Town counsel who walk on the streets and homes and summon those recalcitrant

citizens who litter the environment but today we can’t find them anymore. The question is where are they now?

Why is our sanitation bye-laws not implemented fully? What are the sanitation officers employed by the Government doing? Can we say they are sleeping on their jobs? YES, they are! It is an incumbent on the MMDCEs to implement the laws to assist the president to combat the sanitation canker but they have turned death ears to it and to reiterate the lawless recalcitrant are littering anyhow and go escort free.

We, therefore, edge the MMDCEs to implement the bye-laws immediately, particularly, the sanitation bye-laws and arrest and prosecute the lawless sanitation offences to face the full vigorous of the law. To reiterate, no mercy should be attached to the lawless sanitation offences who litter anyhow.

Furthermore, the sanitation guards should be brought back to work and summon the lawlessness citizenry and also, hand them over to the prosecutors to prosecute them and we believe that it will serve as a deterrent to others and people will begin to attach importance to sanitation services as a driver for social and economic development.

Lastly, more sanitation competent jurisdiction courts should be established so that as soon as the sanitation offences are caught they will be prosecuted as soon as possible to serve as a deterrent to others who perpetuate same act.

Thank You

…SIGNED…

Prince Asiedu Isaac Appianin

Founder and President Communication Director