To the uninitiated, let me stress that the tag Millennium City does not refer to either Dubai, or Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur. No, you got it wrong. Perhaps some characteristics of this popular City will be of great assistance.

I am talking about the City that was listed 4th among 46 countries to visit for business and pleasure by The New York Times in 2013. Of course, it is no other than Accra.

I remember that before work on the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange commenced, there was a sign positioned just to the west of the roundabout and facing the oncoming traffic from the Ring Road. It had the inscription: “Welcome to the Millennium City”.

Not far from that hurriedly assembled sign is the notorious Odaw drain – a receptacle of, literally, Accra’s waste and anything that’s considered worthless. On an ordinary day, dozens of people who live nearby drop their pants and empty their bowels into the choked drain.

No care for decency. Who cares? The AMA boss? Come on, let’s get serious. “But that has been the practice since the days of Abram,” someone told me. Whether he said it in defence of the practice or the AMA boss, I still don’t know.

“And do you think the practice is limited to only the Odaw drain? Go to some of our coastal towns and see,” another person told me. I immediately got furious. Of all the places in this world, why would you invite me to go to a nasty place where people have decided to lower their dignity and display their shame to the entire world? Geez, it’s not a sight to behold.

Indeed, that’s not the worst of our woes in the Millennium City. Yes, I was just scratching the surface. But be advised, if you’re hypertensive, you probably should consider not reading my article beyond this point. I can’t be held responsible if you proceed and your BP reaches unprecedented levels. Thank you.

And now to the strong hearted: do you know about the unsavory Lavender Hill? Of course, I also wonder why it was named so. But never mind, the name is the least of my problems. Since the days of my great grandpa, who grew up in Korle Gonno (KG, if you prefer that), raw human excreta has been dumped into the sea for the fishes to feast on.

Maybe you can just ignore my grandfather’s bit. It was just an exaggeration of a disgusting problem that no government has had the courage to tackle head on. What many forget is that the place is less than a kilometre from the James Town Fishing Harbour and Chorkor, two of Accra’s well-known fishing communities.

On the average 50 or more sewage tankers -- or to be more Ghanaian, toilet “pullers”, -- empty their content into the open sea on a daily basis. Yes, you heard right, and this is likely to be more if you consider the fact that I am very charitable.

I don’t know if that explains why occasionally fishermen in these two fishing communities come home with bumper harvests. Yuck! Just kidding, but you don’t want to rule out that possibility in your own interest, especially when you are not too sure about where your favourite herring is sourced.

The shameful aspect of the story is that the Danish government tried to come to our aid, but its efforts were undone. They built a nice sewage treatment facility at our glorified Lavender Hill, at least so we don’t pour our untreated shame into the belly of the sea.

No, don’t clap just yet. I don’t know if we are cursed – that’s if you believe in curses – or something, but somehow the project is turning into a red, gold, and green elephant. Monies for the maintenance of the facility are in arrears. So like we say, Aluta Continua!

So the AMA can’t fashion out solutions to some of these Guggisberg-era problems? When are we stopping the constructing of open drains? Drains that breed mosquitos and filth to cause cholera. Does the AMA need me to come and tell them that we have more pressing needs to address than unleashing its task force on market women and chasing drivers of commercial vehicles?

Sometimes I don’t proffer solutions to the problems because they are too obvious. In the news since late July is the outbreak of cholera. How? Today’s date is August 8, 2014 (emphasis is mine). And for a country that prides itself as the window (no longer gateway) to Africa, we are just not serious enough.

Cholera is a disease that thrives in filth. The outbreak shows the kind of environment we find ourselves in. I am not saying AMA owes us an apology for this outbreak. We, as a people, are also to blame equally for our dirty attitude. 

Nevertheless, I don’t think the AMA has done much to help keep the Millennium City clean. Refuse containers are left uncollected for days at market centres and lorry stations and sometimes at places less than a yard from the “beard” of our AMA boss.

No one seems to care. Then I am told that the President has directed that a clean-up exercise be undertaken in the wake of the outbreak. Very thoughtful of our President. In pursuance of his directives, the Ministry of Local Government and the AMA will lead the campaign.

Yeah, it took the President to tell these two institutions to embark on that clean-up exercise. But for the outbreak, we would continue to swim in the filth. Interesting. Well, maybe I talk too much.

But let’s not be deceived, Accra is no city, much more the Millennium City the AMA wants us to believe. And neither was my German friend right in saying, “Accra is one huge refuse dump”. That’s to say I live in a refuse dump; I refuse that (no pun intended).

Let me know what you think.

I’m out.