Ghana is a beautiful country blessed with enormous human and natural resources. Yet one uncomfortable sight continues to undermine our claim to development: filth in our communities.
The sanitation situation shown in the video should trouble every Ghanaian. Plastic waste, rubbish and other forms of refuse scattered across open spaces are not merely unpleasant sights. They represent a serious challenge to public health, environmental protection and national development.
The question we must ask ourselves is simple: How can Ghana become the country we dream of when we continue to treat our environment as a dumping ground?
Sanitation Is More Than a Government Problem
Whenever gutters become choked or communities become engulfed in rubbish, it is easy to blame the government, assemblies and waste-management authorities.
Government certainly has a major responsibility. Metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies must provide effective waste collection systems, public bins, drainage infrastructure and proper disposal facilities. Sanitation laws must also be enforced consistently.
But government officials are not the people throwing plastic bottles, food containers and polythene bags onto our streets.
We, the citizens, must also accept responsibility.
If somebody finishes drinking water and throws the plastic bottle from a moving vehicle, that is not the government’s action.
If someone eats food and drops the container beside the road, that is a behavioural problem.
If households deliberately dump rubbish into gutters because rain is coming, we cannot blame politicians alone when those same gutters become blocked and communities subsequently experience flooding.
Development requires responsible citizenship.
We Are Creating Tomorrow’s Disaster Today
Poor sanitation has consequences.
When plastic and other waste block drains, water cannot flow freely. Heavy rainfall can then turn ordinary streets into dangerous waterways.
Stagnant and contaminated water can also create conditions favourable to disease.
We therefore spend enormous resources dealing with problems that could have been prevented through proper sanitation and responsible behaviour.
Imagine the money that could be invested in schools, hospitals, roads, jobs and social services if we reduced the resources constantly required to address preventable sanitation-related problems.
Keeping Ghana clean is therefore not merely about appearance. It is an economic and public-health necessity.
Where Is Our Sense of Community Responsibility?
There was a time when keeping one’s surroundings clean was considered a basic responsibility.
Today, we sometimes behave as though once rubbish leaves our homes, it is no longer our concern.
But the gutter belongs to all of us.
The street belongs to all of us.
The market belongs to all of us.
The beach belongs to all of us.
Ghana belongs to all of us.
The person who dumps rubbish today may eventually suffer from the consequences tomorrow.
Our attitude must change from “someone will clean it” to “I will not make it dirty in the first place.”
Sanitation Laws Must Have Teeth
Education alone will not solve the problem.
Ghana must seriously enforce sanitation regulations. People who deliberately dump refuse at unauthorized locations, throw rubbish from vehicles or dispose of waste into drains should face appropriate penalties.
At the same time, authorities must make compliance practical by providing enough bins, reliable waste collection and accessible disposal facilities.
We cannot demand responsible behaviour while making responsible waste disposal unnecessarily difficult.
The solution therefore requires education, infrastructure and enforcement working together.
Start Teaching It From Childhood
Our schools can become powerful agents of change.
Children should learn that keeping the environment clean is part of responsible citizenship, not merely an activity performed during occasional clean-up exercises.
Parents must reinforce the same lesson at home.
Churches, mosques, traditional authorities, schools, businesses, celebrities and the media should continually promote environmental responsibility.
If we teach children not to litter today, Ghana may spend far less money cleaning up after adults tomorrow.
Clean-Up Exercises Are Not Enough
Occasional national and community clean-up campaigns are useful, but they cannot become our permanent solution.
Imagine cleaning an area on Saturday only for people to begin dumping rubbish there again on Sunday.
That is not sustainable sanitation.
The ultimate objective must be to develop a culture where creating unnecessary filth becomes socially unacceptable.
The cleanest countries are not clean simply because they employ more cleaners. They are clean because citizens understand that public spaces deserve the same respect as their private homes.
A Clean Ghana Is Possible
The sanitation challenge is enormous, but it is not impossible to overcome.
Government must provide the infrastructure.
Assemblies must collect waste efficiently.
The law must be enforced.
Businesses must take responsibility for the waste generated by their products.
Communities must protect their surroundings.
And most importantly, individual Ghanaians must change their behaviour.
We cannot demand world-class cities while maintaining attitudes that produce third-class sanitation.
Before throwing that plastic bottle onto the street, remember that someone must eventually pick it up—or it may end up blocking a drain.
Before dumping rubbish into a gutter, remember that the flood it contributes to may enter somebody’s home.
Before blaming the government entirely, ask yourself:
“What am I personally doing to keep Ghana clean?”
The Ghana we want will not be built only in Parliament, ministries or district assemblies.
It will also be built through the little decisions millions of Ghanaians make every day.
Cleanliness must become a national culture, not an occasional campaign.
Moment of Wisdom
A nation cannot call itself developed when its citizens are comfortable living among their own waste. Development begins not only with beautiful buildings and roads, but also with discipline, responsibility and respect for the environment.
Let us keep Ghana clean. The responsibility belongs to all of us.
Moment of Wisdom GH TV
Moment of Wisdom; Time for Wisdom.
From the Only Living Saint.
