Ghana: Minister Announces One-Week Nationwide Clean-Up Exercise

The Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs (MLGCRA), Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, has announced a one-week nationwide clean-up exercise from Saturday, December 13 to December 20 this week.

The weeklong exercise is aimed to keep the country clean to promote a healthy and hygienic environment for citizens and visitors alike especially as the country approaches Christmas and the New Year.

Mr Ibrahim was speaking during an unannounced tour of some of the districts in the region including Ayawaso West Wuogon and Central, Madina and Adentan Municipal Assembly on Saturday.

He was accompanied by his deputy, Rita Naa Odorley Sowah, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, management and staff of the Ministry.

"Monday, the borla taxis will be at work, the sweepers, those that are functional, will be at work. The trucks will be at work," he said.

He urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to intensify their efforts in promoting the sanitation agenda.

"If you are an MDA or MMCE, President Mahama did not appoint you to come and sit there and disburse the common fund. He gave you a job. Leadership is about service. Let that service be performed. Our responsibility is supervision, and we are going to intensify it," he said.

The Minister also warned MMDA officials to be vigilant, announcing that unannounced visits would be made to assess their performance.

"If we come and you are not there, it means you are not working," he said.

"We are all going to the drawing board, together with my colleagues. So we will bring in Transport, Health and Interior to be part of the ministry. These seven days, at least, we must make sure Ghana is clean for the festive season, so that our brothers and sisters who will be coming from foreign countries will have a good impression of Ghana," Mr Ibrahim added.

For her part, Ms Gomashie emphasised the importance of cleanliness in promoting Ghana's tourism industry, saying, "we can not promote a dirty country, we can only promote a country that is clean."

She noted that the cleanliness of Ghana's streets reflected the country's image and appealed to citizens to work together to maintain a clean environment, saying "we as ministries can not do it alone."

Read the original article on Ghanaian Times.