Graphic to shame CEOs of MMDAs who allow open defecation

The management of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) has resolved to use its media platforms to name and shame chief executives of metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) who allow open defecation to go on in their respective areas.

The company also intends to extend the name and shame agenda to traditional leaders who look on unconcerned while open defecation prevails in their communities.

The Managing Director of the GCGL, Mr Ken Ashigbey, declared the commitment of the company when the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Julius Debrah, visited the company’s head office in Accra yesterday.

The visit by the minister, who was accompanied by his two deputies, was to elicit the support and commitment of the GCGL towards the implementation of the National Sanitation Day to be observed in the first week of every month.

Mr Debrah also used the occasion to appeal to the company to use its various platforms to educate the public on the need for all to keep their surroundings clean.

Sanitation, a shared responsibility

Mr Ashigbey pointed out that ensuring good sanitation was not the sole responsibility of politicians and the Judiciary but that of every leader, including traditional and religious leaders.

“We go to church and say ‘cleanliness is next to Godliness’ but we fail to practise what we preach when it comes to keeping our surroundings clean,” he stated.

He said generally Ghanaians were a clean people and that those who visited countries such as Singapore refrained from littering the environment there because of the repercussions they would face.

“While we crack the whip, we must also put in place the carrots for those who do the right thing,” Mr Ashigbey stated.

Ghana’s image dented

Mr Debrah, for his part, said a recent United Nations Sanitation Report ranked Ghana among the bottom 10 countries with the worst sanitation conditions.

That report, he said, had dented the image of the country in the eyes of the international community.