President John Dramani Mahama has placed the full weight of sanitation delivery and accountability on the shoulders of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), charging them to ensure clean, hygienic, and well-managed environments across their jurisdictions.

Speaking at the official opening of the MMDCEs Orientation and Training Programme in Accra, the President underscored the urgent need for improved sanitation delivery at the local level and outlined key financial and administrative frameworks to support the initiative.

“Ten per cent of your Common Fund in the guidelines is earmarked for sanitation,” President Mahama revealed. “In addition, funds from the Communication Service Levy tax, which is administered by the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), will be decentralised to your districts.”

The President’s directive seeks to decentralise both the funding and execution of sanitation initiatives, while reinforcing transparency and competitive service provision. He disclosed that formal guidelines would be issued for the transparent selection of sanitation service providers through a competitive procurement process.

“You will receive guidelines for transparently selecting your sanitation service providers through a competitive process,” Mahama told the gathering. “You will be fully responsible for the process — and also fully responsible for the outcome.”

To promote accountability and foster innovation in local governance, President Mahama announced plans to introduce an annual league table that will rank the performance of districts in key areas, including cleanliness, drainage, hygiene, and basic infrastructure.

He said the highest-performing district would be publicly celebrated, while the poorest-performing one would be named to encourage responsible leadership and healthy competition.

“Let your legacy be a clean, green, and healthy economy,” he charged the MMDCEs.

The President’s remarks come at a time when sanitation challenges remain one of Ghana’s major developmental hurdles, especially in urban centres. The new directive is expected to stimulate more targeted and efficient use of public funds to tackle waste management, drainage issues, and public health risks at the grassroots level.

President John Mahama criticised the current sanitation and waste management structure, describing it as overly centralised and ineffective.

Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni recently lauded President Mahama for terminating the longstanding sanitation contract between Zoomlion Ghana Limited and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA).

The journalist, in a formal petition to the presidency, argued that the deal had led to massive inefficiencies and the exploitation of sanitation workers, especially street sweepers, while funnelling large sums of public funds to a private entity.