The Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, has asked all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to continue with mop-up clean-up exercises to rid the country of filth.

He said although the two-day nationwide flood aftermath clean-up exercise carried out on July 10 and 11 under the directive of President John Mahama has ended and been largely successful, more work needed to be done to sustain the gains made.

While commending all stakeholders for responding to the national call to duty, the Banda Member of Parliament stressed that the MMDAs must do everything within their means to ensure that all waste cleared from drains is evacuated.

"The President directed that the exercise should be carried out in two days, and we commend every Ghanaian who took part in cleaning up our country; but the MMDAs must continue with mop-up exercises so that all waste can be evacuated," he stressed.

The minister gave the directive when he embarked on a post-flood clean-up assessment last Wednesday.

The tour, which took the minister to key locations across the city, was intended to assess the effectiveness of the clean-up exercise and identify measures needed to sustain the gains made.

Context

Following the downpour on June 29, this year, that led to devastating flooding in Accra and other parts of the country, the government set up a Post-Flood Mitigation Committee, which declared Friday, July 10, 2026, and Saturday, July 11, 2026, as National General Cleaning Days in the seven regions affected by the floods.

The government, through the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, further directed that all businesses remain closed from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the two designated clean-up days to enable citizens to fully participate in the nationwide exercise.

The exercise witnessed the active participation of a broad range of stakeholders, including state and non-state institutions, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), Members of Parliament (MPs), security agencies, waste management companies, community members and market women.

During the minister's assessment tour, the team went to markets and public spaces at Dome, Adentan, and Madina, where he observed the state of sanitation and waste disposal in those areas.

It was observed that the debris in the aftermath of the flood had been cleared, and choked gutters had also been dredged.

Sustainability

The minister, who was satisfied with the state of the environment, urged the sanitation teams at the MMDAs to sustain the clean-up exercise beyond the presidential directive.

He observed that if the MMDAs went back to sleep on their mandate, there would be a recurrence of flooding with its associated challenges.

“And that's why we are continuing with the clean-up exercise; so please, continue until Saturday, and if there is any further directive, we'll let you know," he said.

The minister stressed that after almost 70 years of independence, the country deserved better sanitation standards.

“Ghana will be 70 years very soon, and we cannot be 70 years and be hearing the kind of deaths associated with poor sanitation and flooding; so, keep working hard to rid our communities of filth,” he stressed.