National Sanitation Day to be relaunched on April 2

The Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs has said the National Sanitation Day will be relaunched on April 2, 2025.

The ministry has been given the oversight responsibility over sanitation under the new government; the initiative is in line with the government’s plan to improve environmental sanitation and cleanliness nationwide.

The Deputy Minister,  Rita Naa Odoley Sowah, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the initiative, apart from helping to revive the communal spirit and keep the communities clean, was also aimed at reducing sanitation-related diseases while enhancing tourism and local economic development.

“On April 2, all things being equal, the National Sanitation Day will be launched at Mantse Agbonaa, in fulfilment of one of the key issues in our manifesto.

Getting Ghana to be clean not just for the optics, but to drive a healthy environment is something that President John Dramani Mahama is very keen on and that responsibility has been laid on the shoulders of our ministry,” the Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Deputy Minister explained.

Sanitation Day

Ms Sowah said that initiative was first introduced by the NDC government in 2012, but it was abandoned along the way by the previous government and given its impact, it had to be revived.

She indicated that the first nationwide clean-up exercise was scheduled for April 5, 2025, and would subsequently be observed on the first Saturday of every month.

“During the NDC administration in 2012, we organised the clean-up exercises spearheaded by the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, and we are going to start all over again.”

“So, on April 2, at Mantse Agbonaa, we are going to launch the National Sanitation Day, with the first exercise to take place in all regions on April 5,” she stated.

The deputy minister further stated that an amount of GH¢5 million has been allocated for the national exercise, and this would be disbursed across all 16 regions to drive the initiative throughout the year.

Ms Sowah said there was going to be an evaluation of the exercise with a league table, which would help determine the cleanest municipality or district “and that municipality or district will be rewarded for being the cleanest.”

Greater Accra

On February 28, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo, launched the Regional Sanitation Day.

At the launch at Madina Zongo Junction, Mrs Ocloo, emphasised the need for collective action to maintain cleanliness and prevent diseases in the national capital.

She encouraged everyone to embrace cleanliness as a daily habit, as it was only through healthy bodies and healthy environments that productivity could be maximised.