Members of Kings Club, a network of youth-based businessmen and women, have as part of activities to mark Ghana’s 55th Independence anniversary undertaken a clean-up of selected communities in New Achimota, Accra. The objective was to educate residents on the need to take sanitation in their various communities seriously and to encourage them to embrace the practice as their primary responsibility rather than the government. The event, dubbed “Cleanliness is Next to Godliness,” saw the over 60 members of Kings Club clean up areas such as Wolako, Alhaji Station, Chantan Market, all in the Korle Dudor Electoral Area, as well as Petroleum and Mile-7. Speaking to myjoyonline.com, the leader of the group, Mr. Kwame Tieku emphasised the theme of the exercise and said “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”, and the only way the celebration could be meaningful to the people is to free them from the filth that has engulfed them. “Ghana cannot be said to be free if in this 21st Century, our people are dying from cholera and malaria," he explained, noting that filthy surroundings are the major cause of these diseases. Mr. Tieku also called on the Chief Executive of the Amasaman Municipal Assembly to review a waste management contract with a company assigned to the area. He said the manner in which the company works does not help to improve hygiene. The group called on the government to encourage self-help sanitation exercises across the country to help reduce the national health bill.