Cleanliness of cities and towns will become one of the key performance indicators for measuring the performance of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), and will determine whether they remain in the office or are removed.
President John Dramani Mahama said now that most of the MMDCEs had been nominated and confirmed, they would begin observing the National Sanitation Day programme every month.
This, he said would be a revived monthly exercise involving all Ghanaians.
“This time it will not be a symbolic event. It will be legally backed, it will be properly funded, and it will be operationalized through partnerships with local assemblies and private sector service providers,” he said.
President Mahama said this in his address at a grand durbar of the Chiefs and People of the Greater Accra Region at Dodowa during his “Thank You Tour” of the Region.
The “Thank You Tour” is to enable the President to express gratitude to the Chiefs and People of the Greater Accra Region and Ghanaians, for their massive support for him and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2024 general election.
President Mahama said the Greater Accra Region, as the face of Ghana, must be clean, green, and dignified.
He reiterated that MMDCEs shall be responsible for ensuring the success of the National Sanitation Day events in their districts and the law requiring every household to keep their frontage and the drain in front of their houses clean would be strictly enforced.
He added that persons who failed to comply would be sanctioned appropriately.
Speak candidly on a few issues of concern about Accra, President Mahama said flooding remains a major worry.
He said each year, lives and property were lost due to floods, and this was due to poor drainage, unregulated development, and climate change effects.
“This cannot continue. A dedicated inter-agency taskforce has already commenced work to implement a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy,” he said.
This, he said, includes the desilting of major drains, re-engineering of our waterways, relocating structures situated in watercourses, and enforcing building regulations.
President Mahama said the Odaw River Basin and the Kaneshie Mallam Corridor were already being targeted under this plan.
He said during his recent inspection of the World Bank-funded Greater Accra Resilient Integrated Development Programme, he found that most of the flood prevention work was far behind schedule.
“While we await the completion of these projects, I call on all residents of Accra to avoid flooded drains during the rains, and protect their vulnerable personal properties during the peak season of the rainy season in Accra, which starts from the end of this month till the end of June,” the President said.
“We know that Accra deserves a clean and resilient environment, and that is why we are integrating the Greater Accra Flood Control Master Plan into our National Climate Resilience Strategy.”
The President said the Minister of Finance has directed in this year’s budget that 80 per cent of the revenues accruing to the District Assemblies’ Common Fund should be paid directly to the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
President Mahama underscored that to whom much was given, much was expected.
He said with the disbursement of the 80 per cent of revenues accruing into the District Assemblies’ Common Fund to the MMDAs; means that more resources more going to be available to all assemblies to implement their development projects and carry out effective sanitation programmes to keep our districts clean.
He said Cabinets would soon meet on a decentralization of the sanitation budget and make every district responsible for its own sanitation.
GNA
