The Mayor of Accra, Michael Kpakpo Allotey, has directed the prosecution of 37 business operators and individuals who allegedly defied orders to close their shops and participate in last Saturday’s citywide clean-up exercise under the relaunched National Sanitation Day initiative.
Those cited include Samir Engineering, Vision Transport, and several traders located at Abossey Okai, Kaneshie, Agbogbloshie, and Korle-Bu. The offenders, according to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), ignored a directive requiring all shops and markets to remain closed during the exercise, a move the Mayor described as “a blatant disregard for lawful authority.”
During an inspection tour of the Central Business District, Agbogbloshie, and Abossey Okai, Mayor Allotey instructed Public Health Officers to serve statutory notices and court summonses to the violators. They are expected to appear before the newly established AMA Sanitation and Motor Court in line with the Assembly’s Communal Labour Bye-Laws, 2017, and the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936).
The Mayor also ordered an immediate halt to ongoing construction works at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange to ensure full participation in the clean-up exercise, emphasizing that the operation was part of efforts to build “a culture of responsibility and pride in the city’s environment.”
Declaring October as “Sanitation Month,” Mayor Allotey announced that daily clean-up exercises would be held across markets, lorry parks, and neighborhoods throughout the capital. He noted that while most residents and traders actively joined the desilting of drains and clearing of refuse, the few who failed to comply would face prosecution.
He reaffirmed the Assembly’s commitment to strict enforcement of sanitation bye-laws and sustained public education to support his vision of a “clean, safe, and resilient Accra.
