Yilo Krobo NCCE Champions Sanitation Advocacy during Clean-Up Exercise

“We cannot afford to treat sanitation as a one-off event. It must be embedded in our municipal strategy, our school curricula, and our community dialogues”. This is according to Mad. Ruth Awui, a Chief Field Officer at the Commission’s Office in the Yilo Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region of Ghana. She made this statement during a municipal-wide clean-up exercise organized by the Local Council of Churches of the enclave.

In a display of civic responsibility and inter-institutional collaboration, the exercise, aimed at mitigating the sanitation challenges in the area and galvanizing public support for sustained environmental hygiene, drew participation from heads of institutions, community leaders, and residents.

Mad. Awui, while addressing the gathering of volunteers and stakeholders, emphasized the urgent need to institutionalize sanitation as a shared civic duty and a public health imperative. “Yilo Krobo needs more than occasional clean-ups. We need a cultural shift, one that prioritizes cleanliness as a safeguard against diseases like malaria and cholera”, she stated.

She further used the platform to advocate for a robust and continuous sanitation campaign, calling on institutions, faith-based organizations, and youth groups to integrate hygiene education into their outreach efforts. She highlighted the correlation between poor sanitation and the prevalence of preventable diseases, noting that stagnant water, uncollected waste, and clogged drains remain breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other vectors.

The clean-up exercise saw teams deployed across key areas of the municipality, including marketplaces, lorry stations, and residential enclaves, with volunteers sweeping the streets, desilting gutters, and clearing refuse dumps.

Meanwhile, the organisers commended the NCCE’s advocacy and reaffirmed the Council’s commitment to environmental stewardship, indicating that sanitation is a moral and spiritual obligation that needs all hands on deck.