Member of Parliament for Amasaman Constituency, Sedem Afenyo, joined residents, market women and community leaders in a massive clean-up exercise aimed at clearing choked drains and removing refuse as part of the government’s nationwide sanitation campaign.

The exercise, undertaken with Nii Sowah, the Ga West Municipal Chief Executive, forms part of President John Dramani Mahama’s directive to improve sanitation and clear refuse following the recent devastating floods across parts of the country.

Rather than only supervising the exercise, the Amasaman MP personally entered the choked drains to help desilt sections that had been blocked with silt and waste, underscoring his commitment to improving sanitation in the constituency.
Addressing market women who actively participated in the exercise, Mr. Afenyo commended their efforts and urged them to embrace the National Sanitation Day initiative as a daily responsibility rather than an occasional event.
He noted that maintaining clean markets helps prevent food contamination and promotes the health and well-being of customers and the wider community.

The lawmaker further encouraged residents not to wait for directives from the President before cleaning their surroundings.
“We do not have to wait for the President to come and instruct us before we clean our environment,” he said.

Hon. Afenyo also assured the market women of the government’s commitment to improving drainage systems in the area while urging everyone to play their part by keeping the market and its surroundings clean.

He concluded by stressing that the renewed campaign for environmental cleanliness must not become a “nine-day wonder,” adding that if every Ghanaian consistently kept their homes and frontages clean, the nation would become cleaner, healthier, and better protected against flooding and disease outbreaks

President John Dramani Mahama has called on Ghanaians to adopt responsible waste disposal habits, warning that indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drains remains a major cause of flooding in the country.

Speaking during the National Cleanup Exercise at Alajo in the Greater Accra Region, the President said the ongoing desilting of the Alajo drain, which forms part of the Odaw stream, had revealed the extent of improper waste disposal.

According to him, workers had removed not only silt but also large quantities of plastics, household waste, engine blocks, old furniture and other bulky items from the drain.

“We must change our attitudes and stop the reckless dumping of things into the drains. The drains are not garbage bins,” President Mahama said, urging residents to use skip containers provided across the city for waste disposal instead of throwing refuse into waterways.

He acknowledged that the two-day national cleanup exercise would not be sufficient to restore all drains but announced plans to institutionalize a monthly community cleanup programme to ensure sustained sanitation efforts.

“At least one day every month, all of us should come out and clean our surroundings. That is what our traditional values were about. We were taught to keep a clean environment,” he stated.

The President attributed poor sanitation partly to changing lifestyles in urban areas, saying many people had abandoned the values of communal responsibility because of the anonymity associated with city life.

President Mahama also disclosed that the Minister for Finance had already released GH¢150 million to support flood mitigation activities, including the dredging of streams and drains.

He said the Ghana Armed Forces would continue the desilting exercise after the two-day cleanup campaign and announced plans to equip the military with additional heavy-duty machinery, including backhoes, to remove the accumulated silt and waste from drains.

According to him, the machinery would ensure that debris cleared from drains is loaded into tipper trucks and transported to designated disposal sites.

He cautioned that leaving the excavated silt and refuse beside drains would undermine the cleanup effort, as rainfall could wash the waste back into the waterways.

“Otherwise, if we don’t do that, what we have done will be in vain because when the rains come, it will just wash all those silt and garbage back into the drain,” the President said.

The National Cleanup Exercise forms part of the government’s broader flood mitigation strategy following recent floods in parts of Greater Accra and other regions, with authorities aiming to improve sanitation, prevent flooding and encourage greater public participation in keeping communities clean.

President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans to institutionalize a monthly national cleanup exercise as part of efforts to improve sanitation and reduce flooding across the country.

Speaking during the National Cleanup Exercise at Alajo in the Greater Accra Region, the President said while the ongoing two-day campaign was an important step, sustained community participation would be required to keep drains and public spaces clean.

“Two days are not enough to finish this work, but we are going to institute it so that at least one day every month, all of us should come out and clean our surroundings,” he said.

President Mahama said the initiative seeks to revive Ghana’s long-standing tradition of communal labour, noting that citizens were once taught to take responsibility for maintaining clean environments.

“That is what our traditional values were about. We were taught to keep a clean environment, but when we all leave our hometowns and we come because of the anonymity of urbanization, we think that nobody watches us. We must change that attitude,” he stated.

The President also called on Ghanaians to stop dumping refuse into drains, describing the practice as a major contributor to flooding. According to him, the cleanup at the Alajo drain, part of the Odaw stream, uncovered large amounts of silt, plastics, household waste, engine blocks, furniture and other discarded items that had obstructed the free flow of water.

He urged residents to use skip containers provided across the city for proper waste disposal instead of turning drains into dumping sites.

President Mahama further disclosed that the Minister for Finance had released GH¢150 million to support flood mitigation measures, including the dredging of streams and drains.

He said the Ghana Armed Forces would continue desilting operations after the two-day cleanup exercise and that government would procure additional backhoes to help remove excavated silt and debris into tipper trucks for disposal at designated sites.

According to the President, removing the waste from drainage channels is essential to ensuring that the cleanup effort has a lasting impact.

The monthly cleanup initiative forms part of the government’s broader strategy to strengthen sanitation, prevent flooding and encourage citizens to play an active role in keeping their communities clean.