Minister, Mayor billboard on 'clean Accra' pulled down

Some billboards in the capital with the images of Greater Accra regional minister Ishmael Ashitey and the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mohammed Adjei Sowah, are being removed following backlash on social media.

The huge billboards, with the portrait of the two officials with the accompanying inscription “Welcome to Accra, the Proposed Cleanest City in Africa” had been erected in various parts of the metropolis.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has pledged to make Accra the neatest and best city in Africa by the end of his first term of office.

“The commitment we are making and which I want you all to make with me is that by the time we end our four-year term, Accra is going to be the cleanest city in Africa,” he stated in an address he delivered after he had been installed a chief by the people of Jamestown and the Ngleshie Alata Traditional Council under the title Nii Kwaku Abladey Okudzeaman I, which means ‘Royal Warrior who champions the welfare of his people’.

Weeks after the promise, billboards were mounted with the portraits of the two officials at vantage poins in the city.

Even though it is not yet known whether the billboards were sponsored by the two officials or other entities, many individuals were of the view that it was wrong to use scarce resources to mount billboards which were of no use especially when the project to clean the city has not been achieved.

Social media commentators were not enthused that the capital was still engulfed in filth and poor sanitation and hoped the officials would tackle the problems rather than resort to billboard installations.

Days after the public uproar, pictures have resurfaced on social media with some individuals pulling down the billboards.