Wherever there is human settlement, waste will be generated. Generating waste is a natural consequence of human habitation. Managing waste that is generated by human habitation is a matter of leadership. Poor waste collection and management, as well as indiscriminate disposal of waste is a reflection of poor leadership, not bad citizenship. Here are questions Ghanaian leaders must ask themselves:

1.        If there is human habitation at any locality, would they generate waste?

2.        If yes, how much waste is expected to be generated per week?

3.        Do the inhabitants have a means to properly collect and dispose of the waste generated?

4.        If not, what waste collection and management system should be put in place?

5.        Given the volume of waste that is expected to be generated per week, how should the waste collection system be designed to achieve effectiveness and efficiency?

6.        How will the waste collection system be financed? Who pays how much, when and how?

7.        If an efficient and effective waste collection system is in place for the locality, is there a monitoring and enforcement system to ensure compliance by all inhabitants?

8.        Are there measures in place to ensure that every household or human habitat within the locality is compulsorily signed on to the waste collection system?

9.        In addition to a system to collect household waste, is there a system to collect and manage communal waste (from streets, parks, markets, etc.) on a daily basis?

10. Is there sustained enforcement of sanctions, to punish breach of sanitation by-laws as well as failure to sign on to the waste collection system for the locality?

If leaders think through the above and implement a waste collection system suitable for every locality, citizens will have no incentives to dump refuse into drains to contribute to the causes of flooding. Leaders must stop the purposeless lamentations about citizen behaviour and start thinking!

Kwaku Antwi-Boasiako, Accra

June 30, 2026