President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drains, warning that the practice is worsening flooding and undermining efforts to protect communities.
Speaking on Friday, July 10, 2026, after participating in the first day of the national clean-up exercise and touring Tse-Addo, Alajo and some health facilities, the President said the devastating June 29 floods should serve as a wake-up call for Ghanaians to change their attitudes towards sanitation.
“We must change our attitudes and stop the reckless dumping of things into the drains. The drains are not garbage instruments,” he said.
Mr. Mahama urged residents to make use of the skip containers and waste collection services available in communities rather than disposing of rubbish into waterways and drains.
“If you want to dispose of something, you know how to dispose it of. We have skip trucks that leave containers all over the city, just go and throw your garbage into the skip and the truck will come and pick it and take it where it has to take it,” he stated.
The President acknowledged that the ongoing two-day clean-up exercise would not be sufficient to address the country’s sanitation challenges and announced plans to institutionalise regular community clean-up exercises.
“Two days are not enough to finish this work but we are going to institute it so that at least one day every month all of us should come out and clean our surroundings. That is what our traditional values were about,” he added.
As part of broader flood prevention measures, Mr. Mahama said the Ghana Armed Forces would continue dredging major drains and waterways even after the two-day exercise ends to improve the flow of stormwater.
He also disclosed that the government intends to deploy specialised equipment, including backhoes and tipper trucks, to remove the large quantities of silt extracted from drains and transport them to approved disposal sites.
“We also have to get specialized machines like back hoes to take the silt that we have taken out of the drain and put them in a tipper truck to take them away,” the President said.
The national clean-up exercise forms part of the government’s efforts to improve sanitation, clear choked drains and strengthen flood prevention measures following recent flooding incidents in parts of the country.
