Mayor of Accra urges traders to make cleanliness a lifestyle
Story by: Regina Bless
The Mayor of Accra, Michael Kpakpo Allotey, has urged traders to make cleanliness an everyday responsibility rather than limiting sanitation efforts to National Sanitation Day exercises.
According to the Mayor, traders should treat the spaces where they conduct their businesses with the same level of care they give to their homes.
Mr. Allotey made the call on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at Rawlings Park in Accra during the National Sanitation Day exercise organised to commemorate World Cleanup Day 2026.
The exercise was held under the global theme, “From Clean Plates to Clean Cities,” with Ghana’s complementary national theme being “National Sanitation Day: Local Actions Yielding National Impact.”
The Mayor said the Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s objective was not to prevent people from trading but to create conditions that would allow traders to operate in clean and healthy surroundings.
He stressed that traders should be able to conduct their businesses, make profits and take their earnings home rather than spend their income treating preventable illnesses linked to poor sanitation.
Mr. Allotey said he had observed positive changes among some traders, including instances where they swept their surroundings during normal business hours. He encouraged others to adopt and sustain similar practices.
Government Announces Waste Management Reforms
The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, also outlined plans to reform Ghana’s waste management system.
The proposed measures include providing households with separate waste bins, replacing open-bucket waste tricycles and establishing waste transfer stations across Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
Mr. Ayariga said all MMDAs had been given 30 days to identify and submit one-acre sites for the construction of waste transfer stations.
He explained that the policy forms part of President John Dramani Mahama’s directive to develop an effective and efficient waste management system beginning at the household level.
According to the Minister, the government is developing an integrated waste management system that will address challenges across the waste chain, from household collection and transfer stations to final disposal and recycling.
Ga State Calls for Sustained Cleanliness
Captain Nii Kojo Nseni Mankattah IV, Asafoatse Onukpa of the Ga State, speaking on behalf of the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, called on residents and traders to take greater responsibility for maintaining clean surroundings after organised clean-up exercises.
He expressed concern that significant resources were being committed to sanitation activities, only for some cleaned areas to become littered again within hours.
He urged residents to discourage indiscriminate dumping and encouraged people to challenge those who litter public spaces to properly pick up and dispose of their waste.
The exercise brought together officials from the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, traditional authorities, market women, youth groups, sanitation workers and other stakeholders.
The call for sustained cleanliness comes as authorities seek to move beyond periodic clean-up exercises towards systems and everyday practices that can improve sanitation across Accra.