Sanitation Minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah says government’s promise to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa by 2020 is 85% complete.

In an interview with Joy News’ Piesie Nana Yaw Safo during a cleanup exercise in parts on Nima Tuesday, she stated that government has done its best to make Accra clean.

Madam Dapaah, however, bemoaned how citizens activities continue to derail government's efforts.

“When we don’t do these things of throwing rubbish into the drains, the drains will be clearer and neater and our homes will also be clean because the Assembly has been tasked to send round the tricycles to pick up our waste.

“So I am telling you and I know you will quote it that, we are 85% through [with making Accra the cleanest city]. You all saw the 100% we achieved during the lockdown. So the question is, who makes Accra dirty?”

President Nana Akufo-Addo on April 24, 2017, declared his intention to make Accra the cleanest city on the continent, by the end of his first term in office.

Although some citizens have cast doubt over achieving such promise, the Sanitation Minister noted that continuous sensitisation of the public on a clean environment could show some positive improvement.

She highlighted the need for each house to have at least one dustbin to store their waste temporarily since the local assemblies will dispatch tricycles for collection.

In April 2019, when Madam Dapaah was asked about timelines to achieving the promise, she said “the President will go for two terms and at the end of that term, Accra would have been [cleanest city] and we are on course…God is in control and the battle is still the Lords.”

She told the media when she took her turn at the Meet The Press that, the President is so serious with his call to the extent that he has prioritised the Ministry’s needs. 

“…he has put the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources on the top priority list of government to be able to access all the budget that it needs,” she stated.