The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has announced plans to intensify enforcement and monitoring activities as part of the second edition of the National Sanitation Day exercise scheduled for Saturday, 1st November 2025, within the Accra metropolis.

According to a statement issued by the Assembly, and signed by Head of Public Affairs,  Gilbert Nii Ankrah,  failure to comply with the sanitation directive or refusal to participate in the communal labour exercise constitutes an offence punishable upon summary conviction by a fine of up to one hundred (100) penalty units or imprisonment for not less than thirty (30) days and not more than six (6) months, or both. Continuing offenders, it added, would incur additional daily penalties.

 The exercise, the statement noted, forms part of efforts to promote environmental cleanliness and ensure full public participation in the nationwide campaign to make Accra cleaner, safer, and healthier.

The statement said the operation would involve the deployment of 21 Public Health Officers, 200 members of the AMA Sanitation Taskforce, and 81 labourers, including sweepers and janitors, across all sub-metropolitan areas adding that the exercise would be supported with logistics such as compactor trucks, backhoe loaders, excavators, tipper trucks, and a pay loader to facilitate the desilting of drains, clearing of refuse, and transportation of waste.

The statement noted that in line with the President’s directive and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (Communal Labour) Bye-Laws, 2017, enacted pursuant to Section 181 of the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936), all shops, markets, and business premises are to remain closed from 6:00 a.m. until the exercise is completed to allow for full public participation.

“The cleansing activities will focus on desilting of drains, brushing of road kerbs, sweeping, and removal of illegal banners,” the statement read.

The Assembly disclosed that the operation would cover all sub-metropolitan areas but would be intensified in specific zones, including John Evans Atta Mills High Street, Asafoatse Nettey Road, and Agbogbloshie in the Ashiedu Keteke Sub-Metro; Chorkor (from Galilee to Lante Maami through to Chemuenaa) and Guggisberg Road to Korle Bu stretch in the Ablekuma South Sub-Metro; and the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange and Police Depot (from Alajo Junction to Abeka Junction) in the Okaikoi South Sub-Metro.

Speaking ahead of the exercise, the Mayor of Accra, Hon. Michael Kpakpo Allotey, reaffirmed the Assembly’s commitment to sustaining the gains made under the Resetting Accra agenda and emphasised that maintaining cleanliness in the city was a shared civic duty that required the active involvement of every resident.

“Our mission is to build a cleaner, safer, and more vibrant city where public health and environmental discipline are non-negotiable.

The National Sanitation Day is not just a routine cleanup; it’s a call to civic responsibility. I urge every resident, trader, and business operator to step out and join hands with us to reset Accra for the better,” the Mayor stated.