Accra's filth is 'shocking' - Sefa Kayi

Host of Peace FM's Flagship programme "Kokrokoo", Kwami Sefa Kayi, appears sickened by the filth that has swallowed up the Capital city, Accra and other parts of the nation and the nonchalant attitude Ghanaians have towards ensuring good environmental sanitation.

He wondered how Ghana, after achieving 61 years of independence, still battles with sanitation problems.

In the last 20 years, waste management has become a key part of campaign promises of political parties, as the city authorities struggle to cope with the waste generated by residents daily.

Certain parts of Accra, the capital for instance, is the scene of littered refuse, raw sewage sipping through choked drains and open defecation.

Piles of refuse have also engulfed some markets, major highways and several communities in the city.

Even in so-called affluent and well planned areas, the insanitary conditions and heaps of garbage that one is confronted with, is an eye-sore.

It was therefore not surprising when the Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, Andrew Barnes, recently asked Ghanaian authorities to up their game to meet President Akufo-Addo’s promise to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa by 2020.

The President, addressing chiefs and people of Jamestown in April last year, pledged his commitment to make Accra the cleanest cities in Africa by the end of his tenure.

But now, that commitment seems to be a fluke.

Addressing the issue on his platform on Monday, Kwami Sefa Kayi, affectionately called Chairman General, quizzed "the filth in Accra is shocking. So, will we look on like this?”

Whiles enjoing Ghanaians to cultivate habits that prevents littering the environment, the reigning GJA Journalist of the year called for punitive measures to be instituted against offenders to deter prospective ones from littering around.