President Akufo Addo in 2017 during a durbar at Ngleshie Alata Traditional Area at Jamestown made a commitment to the good people of Ghana.
Akufo-Addo stated, “The commitment I want to make, and for all of us to make, is that by the end of my term in office, Accra will be the cleanest city on the entire African continent. That is the commitment I am making,”
With barely a few months to end his tenure as the president of Ghana we look at Glefe a community in the west side of Accra.
A resident of Glefe who has lived in the area for over 40 years Robert Ocloo stated, “The lagoon was serene, calm and clean,” he says. “Children swam and men fished in it to earn a living. People came from far to enjoy the scenery. Our only problem then was the occasional flooding.”
He noted the situation in Glefe is not the same, flooding has taken over the community with constant dumping of garbage in the lagoon by tricycle waste collectors, which has been going on for years.
A man not using his real name identified as Paa Willie also a resident of Glefe stated, “the recent rains show that if care is not taken, we might experience disaster here at Glefe. Our gutters are unable to flow because of the dumping in the lagoon”.
Every single day, tricycle riders dump tonnes of household waste in the Glefe lagoon.
Acquah Daniel Quansah, the Spokesperson for the chief in the area has stated, “Government should lead. How much does it cost government to have one bulldozer for the municipality? To create a site for the collection of rubbish, to create a site for solid waste? So that before the community even emerges, human beings grow, population increases, you have those facilities.”
Mr. Quansah added attempts by the community to engage the local government in the area have yielded minimum outcomes.
Accra is infamous for its filth. Roads, marketplaces and drainage systems are adorned with filth. The bad sanitation in the city is a major cause to perennial flooding that costs many their properties and lives.
The development in Glefe community can be said to be one of many poor sanitations that persist in Accra. Many Ghanaians have wonder whether President Akufo-Addo meant his commitment or if it was just mere political talk.
