Former President John Dramani Mahama has announced his intention to dissolve the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources if is he re-elected and assumes office in 2025.

Speaking during a public lecture at the Wisconsin International University College in Accra on April 4, 2024, Mahama expressed his dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of the ministry, citing increased filth in the country despite its establishment.

Mahama, who is also the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), emphasized the need to reduce government expenditure and questioned the ministry's utility, stating that Ghana appeared dirtier now than before the ministry's creation.

“We will close down the Ministry of Sanitation, one to reduce expenditure and two, I don’t see any use. Accra, our country is dirtier than when there was no Ministry of Sanitation.

“Indeed, this country was cleaner when our country was under local government than as a stand-alone ministry and so we’ll close down that ministry and we’ll take the sanitation schedule back to local government because we want to reduce government expenditure,” he said.

Mahama proposed consolidating several other underperforming ministries, including the Aviation and Railways Ministries, into the Transport Ministry.

“It is not only the Sanitation Ministry, in Transport, Aviation and Railways, we are going to close them down and send them back to the Transport Ministry. We are going to combine Communications and Information again. So, we want to reduce the number of ministries.

“With cleanliness, we think that it’s the duty of the district assemblies. Every assembly has an obligation to make sure that its district is clean and so we must decentralize sanitation to the district level,” he added.

We will close down the Ministry of Sanitation, Our country is dirtier than when there was no Ministry of Sanitation.
John Dramani Mahama #Together4Change2024 #Mahama24hourEconomy #LetsBuildGhanaTogether pic.twitter.com/qGbQrsJTqa

— ChiefJakpa BeAwuribe (@ChiefBeawuribe) April 4, 2024