Vice President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has put Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) on notice, declaring that sanitation performance will now be a key measure of their effectiveness as the government intensifies efforts to tackle the worsening environmental and sanitation challenges.
Speaking at the Second National Dialogue on Decentralisation and Responsive Governance in Accra, on Monday, August 10, the Vice President said recent flooding in parts of Ghana’s major cities had exposed serious weaknesses in waste management, sanitation practices and the enforcement of environmental standards.
She said the situation required stronger local leadership, greater accountability and sustained participation from citizens.
“Sanitation performance is now a key performance indicator for metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives,” Prof. Opoku-Agyemang announced.
According to her, assemblies will be required to demonstrate measurable improvements in cleanliness and waste management as part of efforts to make local governments more responsive.
The Vice President said the government is intensifying monthly clean-up exercises under the Clean Up Ghana campaign, but stressed that sanitation could not be reduced to periodic clean-up events.
“However, this cannot remain a monthly event. Cleanliness must become a daily discipline,” she said.
She urged citizens and local authorities to take shared responsibility for maintaining clean communities.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said the government is also prioritising environmental health and sanitation as a central component of local governance.
She disclosed that government is proposing the establishment of District Environment, Health and Sanitation Departments within metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.
The proposed departments, she explained, would restore operational responsibility for environmental health and sanitation to the local level and strengthen accountability for services that directly affect communities.
“The aim is to strengthen local accountability for one of the most visible and vital public services delivered at the community level,” she said.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang also reaffirmed government’s commitment to deepening the decentralisation architecture.
She said successive governments had worked since the adoption of the 1992 Constitution to build institutions and systems capable of bringing government and development closer to citizens.
She pointed to the National Decentralization Policy and Strategic Framework 2022–2030 as a roadmap for the next phase of reforms.
The policy, she said, seeks to deepen decentralisation, strengthen local governance institutions, improve public service delivery and accelerate development at the local level.
She called on citizens, development partners, civil society organisations, traditional authorities, academia and other stakeholders to support its implementation through technical assistance, capacity development, financing, advocacy, innovation and active participation.
The Vice President said government’s commitment to decentralisation is further reinforced by its position paper on recommendations from the constitutional review process.
She said the proposed reforms are aimed at strengthening local governance, enhancing accountability and improving the democratic legitimacy of local government institutions.
Among the priorities, she listed the need to clarify the roles and responsibilities of local government institutions, strengthen the capacity of MMDAs, improve coordination between central and local governments, and build governance systems capable of responding quickly to citizens’ needs.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said government has already begun implementing measures to strengthen decentralisation.
She disclosed that the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralization has been re-energised as a platform for coordinating national decentralisation reforms.
Government, she added, had also increased the proportion of the District Assemblies Common Fund transferred directly to MMDAs, giving local authorities greater resources to undertake development projects.
She further announced that policy and legislative work is ongoing to deepen functional devolution, particularly in education, health and roads.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said decentralisation must ultimately be judged by its impact on ordinary Ghanaians.
“Our aim is a Ghana where local institutions have the confidence, the capacity and the resources to respond to local needs, and where communities are active partners in shaping development,” she said.
She said effective decentralisation would help deliver more accountable public services, strengthen local economies and accelerate development at the grassroots.
By Evelyn Tengmaa
