The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has announced that the third and final National Sanitation Day (NSD) exercise for 2025 would take place on Saturday, 13th December 2025, from 6:00 a.m. within the metropolis.

According to the Assembly in a press release issued on Thursday the exercise, which was initially scheduled for Saturday, 6th December 2025, was postponed to make way for activities marking the 41st National Farmers and Fishers’ Day celebrations.

The statement indicated that the rescheduled date was intended to ensure full public participation and effective enforcement of sanitation regulations across the city.

According to the AMA, the upcoming NSD had been classified as strategic and critical because it was the last for the year and falls just before the Christmas and end-of-year festivities, a period associated with heightened commercial activity, increased waste generation and additional pressure on the city’s sanitation infrastructure.

The Assembly stated that, in line with the President’s directive and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (Communal Labour) Bye-Laws, 2017, enacted under Section 181 of the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936), all shops, markets and business premises are required to remain closed from 6:00 a.m. until the exercise was over to allow for full participation in communal labour.

The AMA indicated that cleansing activities would cover desilting and cleaning of open and covered drains, brushing and washing of road kerbs and medians, sweeping of streets and lanes, removal of unauthorised banners and posters, as well as general clean-up operations in markets, lorry parks, beaches and other public spaces.

It said the operation would span all electoral areas, markets and the Central Business District (CBD), with intensified work planned in specific focal zones. In Chorkor and Chemu Naa, efforts will focus on desilting drains and inner lanes, particularly in litter-prone areas.

The statement noted that at Dogo Beach, the exercise would target the removal of solid waste along the shoreline and improvements in environmental hygiene along the beachfront while along the Graphic Road corridor and within Agbogbloshie, the operation would concentrate on desilting major drains, clearing refuse along road shoulders and market areas, and eliminating indiscriminate dumping sites to enhance sanitation and traffic safety.

The Assembly noted that teams of Public Health Officers, members of the AMA Sanitation Taskforce, and labourers including sweepers and janitors would be deployed across all sub-metros stressing that the teams, would be supported with waste collection trucks, tippers and other equipment to facilitate desilting, refuse collection and the conveyance of waste to approved disposal sites.

The AMA reminded the public that failure to comply with the sanitation directive or refusal to participate in communal labour constitutes an offence and that such offences were punishable on summary conviction by a fine of up to one hundred (100) penalty units or imprisonment for a term of not less than thirty (30) days and not more than six (6) months, or both, adding that continuing offenders may be subject to additional daily penalties.

The Assembly urged residents, traders, transport operators, market women, shop owners, landlords, tenants and business entities to fully participate in the clean-up exercise and ensure that drains in front of their premises are properly desilted and surroundings kept clean.

As the city prepares for Christmas and the New Year, the AMA stated that it was counting on the collective responsibility and civic duty of all who live and work in Accra to make the third National Sanitation Day exercise a success and to help keep the metropolis clean, liveable and resilient for all.