The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has directed that all shops and markets within the metropolis to remain closed on Saturday, 4th October 2025, from 6 am to allow for the first official clean-up exercise under the newly launched National Sanitation Day.

In a statement signed by the Head of Public Affairs Mr. Gilbert Nii Ankrah, the Assembly explained that the directive follows the President’s launch of the initiative and was in line with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (Communal Labour) Bye-Laws, 2017, enacted pursuant to section 181 of the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936) which mandates the Assembly to observe the first Saturday of every month as a National Sanitation Day.

According to the release, the exercise forms part of efforts to rid the city of filth, promote public health, and deepen shared responsibility for a cleaner, safer, and more resilient Accra.

“This citywide exercise is being undertaken to reduce flooding, environmental health risks, and improve sanitation across the metropolis,” the statement noted.

The Assembly further disclosed that assembly members would organise and lead simultaneous clean-up activities across their electoral areas so that work proceeds in a coordinated and efficient manner adding that the operation would cover all sub-metropolitan areas, with intensified work expected in Agbogbloshie, Tuesday Market, Kwame Nkrumah Interchange and its environs, Kwasiadwaso, and Kaneshie Market, where teams would desilt major drains, clear refuse, and tidy market precincts.

The AMA urged residents, traders, shop owners, and stakeholders to strictly comply with the directive by observing the temporary closure and actively participating in the exercise.

It cautioned that Public Health Officers would be deployed across communities to monitor compliance and enforce the directive.

The statement warned that failure to comply constitutes an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine of up to one hundred penalty units or imprisonment of not less than thirty days and not more than six months, or both. It added that continuing offences would attract an additional daily penalty.