President John Dramani Mahama has indicated that the implementation of by-laws on sanitation in various municipal, metropolitan and district assemblies (MMDAs) across the country will be used as one of the assessment criteria of chief executives.

He said municipal, metropolitan and district chief executives (MMDCEs) have been empowered to implement the by-laws on sanitation.

“From now on, I am going to use the implementation and enforcement of by-laws at the various assemblies as performance appraisals to renew the mandate of the DCEs and MCEs.”

President Mahama made these known on Saturday, March 7 when he joined journalists in the Northern Region to mark this month’s National Sanitation Day.

In its sixth month, the exercise is to ensure that the various assemblies are kept spick and span.

The exercise was initiated by Former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Julius Debrah, who is currently serving at the Presidency as the Chief of Staff.

Though Saturday’s exercise was centered in the Volta Region capital of Ho, President Mahama joined hands with journalists to clear heaped garbage in Tamale.

He commended the leadership of the Northern Region branch of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) for taking part in the exercise, indicating that journalism is not only about reporting on issues but joining in solving them.