The Ga East Municipal Assembly (GEMA), Abokobi, on Monday, 26th April, 2021, began a week-long decongestion and cleaning exercise in the municipality.

The exercise forms part of the Assembly’s efforts towards the realization of the vision of the President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to “Make Accra the Cleanest City in Africa” and the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Hon. Henry Quartey’s ‘Accra Must Work Again’ agenda.

The special exercise to decongest and clean the streets of the municipality of structures on walkways and choked gutters, respectively, started from Achimota ABC Junction through Mile 7, St. Johns towards the Dome Market.

The exercise was led and supervised by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Hon. Janet Tulasi Mensah, in the company of the Presiding Member (PM), Hon. Jesse Nii Noi Anum, and the Municipal Coordinating Director (MCD), Mrs Vera Akuffo-Mante, involved officers from the Main Office, Works Department, NADMO, Environmental Health Unit, Guards and Police Personnel.

The team demolished structures found on pedestrian walkways and, in some cases, situated on portions of the road, while others, especially glassed structures were lifted into the accompanying trucks, and also cleared weeds and desilted choked gutters along the road.

The Municipal Chief Executive led the team to lock up some shops and forced the owners to desilt chocked gutters at their frontage.

Speaking to the media after the exercise which lasted about eight (8) hours, Hon. Janet Tulasi Mensah stated that the vision of the President and the Regional Minister can only be realized through the collective efforts of the citizenry.

She bemoaned the lack of responsibility by the citizenry to take care of their immediate environs and always wait for the Assembly to come and do what they are expected to do.

“Our expectation is to ‘Make Accra the Cleanest City in Africa” because, that is what President Akufo-Addo and the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Hon. Henry Quartey, envisage. But this will require collective efforts from we, the members of the Assembly and the citizens at large and that is what we are doing", she remarked.

The Hon. MCE told the media that the public, especially shop owners along the streets in the affected areas, had be informed about the exercise and the Assembly was there to carry out its legal mandate.

"We have already informed the public to leave the reservations for pedestrians and the Assembly to use so they were already informed. We are only here to enforce what we asked them to do", she said.

Some shop owners and those affected by the demolition expressed their displeasure about the exercise but Hon. Janet Tulasi Mensah described their behaviour as "appalling".

She noted that a new, spacious market has been opened at Kwabenya-Atomic where the traders who have occupied walkways and road reservations could go and sell their items but they prefer to sell by the road and leave rubbish all around.

"Ga East is fortunate to have a new market where buying and selling can take place. So if you are selling by the road, it will be appropriated to get a space in the market and sell because if where you are selling is a pedestrian stretch, you will be asked to stop", she explained.
Again, the Hon. MCE made it known that the exercise was not going to be a "one-day exercise" and that the areas will be visited regularly to ensure people comply and help realize the President’s vision.



Hon. Janet Tulasi Mensah further advised the citizens to desist from selling on the streets because the Assembly will enforce the laws and anyone who flouts it will be dealt with.

"We are not relenting on this exercise. It is going to be an everyday monitoring and inspection and enforcing of the law. If we ask you to stop selling and you are not adhering to, then we have nothing else to do than send you to court. This is because the sanitation issues that come with selling by the roads is uncalled for", she cautioned.

The Municipal Works Engineer (MWE), Peter Bah-Lano indicated that the exercise will last for one week and that a team has been constituted to conduct regular monitoring in the designated areas to ensure compliance.

The NADMO Direcotr for GEMA, Mr. Seth Osei Kissi, and the Municipal Environmental Health Officer (MEHO) and their teams were also actively involved in the exercise and assured that their respective outfits will ensure the enforcement of the Assembly’s Bye-Laws to help curb indiscipline in the communities.