Accra’s clean-city ambition faces test of public cooperation and waste management reforms
Accra’s efforts to become Ghana’s cleanest city will depend on whether residents change their waste-disposal habits and authorities improve the systems for collecting and processing rubbish, Mayor Michael Kpakpo Allotey has said.
He is appealing for public and media support for the sanitation campaign, arguing that enforcement by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) will achieve little without cooperation from households, traders and businesses.
Speaking on Citi FM’s Breakfast Show on Thursday, November 5, Allotey said he wanted Accra to become the cleanest city in the country before the end of his tenure. He urged the media to explain the purpose of the Assembly’s sanitation interventions rather than allow enforcement measures to be viewed as attempts to victimise individuals.
The mayor said the objective was to improve the condition of roads, clear drains and restore public spaces, adding that the Assembly was responding to residents’ demands for a cleaner and better-organised capital.
His appeal comes as Accra’s waste-management system faces wider infrastructure and operational challenges. In September, Local Government Minister Ahmed Ibrahim said an assessment of major waste facilities in Greater Accra had exposed weaknesses in waste collection, transportation and treatment. He called for reforms covering the entire process, from household disposal to final treatment.
The AMA has also introduced a longer-term plan. In June, it launched a 10-year Solid Waste Optimisation Strategy covering 2025 to 2035. The roadmap includes separating waste at source, expanding composting and recycling, reducing the amount sent to landfills and improving the financing and management of sanitation services.
The scale of the challenge extends beyond the capital’s central municipality. The Local Government Ministry disclosed in June that the 25 metropolitan and municipal assemblies within the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area generated about 4,400 tonnes of solid waste daily, with collection estimated at 80 per cent. It warned that daily waste generation could rise to approximately 5,186 tonnes by 2036.
Allotey’s ambition also recalls former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s 2017 pledge to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa. That target was not achieved within the original timeframe, despite successive sanitation initiatives.
The mayor is now seeking to build support for another clean-city drive. But the broader challenge will be turning public appeals and enforcement into lasting improvements in waste collection, disposal infrastructure and residents’ everyday sanitation practices.
Source: CNR
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