Barely two weeks after the “Resetting Ghana” tour by President John Dramani Mahama, the Sunyani Municipality is once again being swallowed by filth. This raises serious concerns about the sustainability of sanitation efforts by the city authorities.
Prior to the high-profile visit, the municipality witnessed an aggressive clean-up exercise.
Choked gutters were desilted, refuse containers emptied and pavements within the Central Business District were freshly painted to give the city a new look.
However, The Chronicle can report that the momentum has quickly fizzled out, with sanitation conditions deteriorating rapidly, just days after the President’s departure.
Just behind the Sunyani Chiraa Station, a major refuse container is now overflowing uncontrollably with heaps of waste spilling onto the ground.
The situation is advancing close to the Sunyani central market, where vegetables, fruits, meat and other foodstuffs are sold in open spaces.
The uncollected garbage is being blown about by the wind, littering the surroundings and creating an unhealthy environment. Swarms of flies, pungent odor and visible air contamination now characterise the area.
This is posing a significant public health threat to traders and residents alike. Some of the traders (names withheld) told The Chronicle that the situation had been appalling for some time now. “We pay levies all the time, but look at what is happening here”, the helpless traders lamented.
The situation is no different at the heavily patronising Nana Bosoma Market, popularly known as the Sunyani Wednesday Market.
A visit by The Chronicle exposed both city authorities and traders for poor waste management practices, as heaps of refuse compete for space with commercial activities.
Some traders, who pleaded anonymity, blamed the worsening situation on changes in the waste management arrangements.
According to them, the refuse collection was previously handled efficiently by workers of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, but they had since been replaced by newly engaged personnel under the current administration.
The traders, however, expressed disappointment in the performance of the new workers, describing them as uncommitted and irregular in waste collection.
They fumed that some of the traders who are unable to contain the horrible stench are forced to hire the services of private refuse collectors at exorbitant fees, though they pay taxes to the Sunyani Municipal Assembly.
Due to the persistent bad sanitation management in the city, an ‘Adolescent Member of Parliament for Abetifi Zongo’, Ibrahim Kakore, has also added his voice to the growing concern, calling out the Municipal Chief Executive, Vincent Antwi-Agyei, to take urgent action.
In several Facebook posts, Kakore did not mince words: “We cannot ignore this any longer. I am calling on the municipal assembly to take immediate action to clear this waste and put proper measures in place to prevent this from happening again. Our health matters. Our environment matters.”
The MP, who is also a Citizen Journalist, under the Resilient City for Adolescents Project, further exposed a similar sanitation crisis in the Abetifi Zongo community, where refuse has been indiscriminately dumped near the M/A Primary School.
He criticised residents for poor waste disposal habits, noting that many prefer to litter the surroundings instead of using the containers provided by the Assembly.
Ibrahim Kakore warned that the situation poses a grave danger to school children who learn in such an unsanitary condition daily.
“It can also pose a serious health risk to the entire community, with flies, bad odor, and the spread of diseases becoming inevitable. Why should our children study in such conditions? Why should our community live like this?” he questioned.
He, therefore, called on city authorities, residents and all relevant stakeholders to act swiftly to clear the waste and enforce proper sanitation practices before the situation spirals further out of control.
Meanwhile, a former Assembly Member for Sunyani, Mr. Raphael Cubagee has also launched a serious attack on the Assembly for virtually neglecting their responsibility in managing waste in the Bono Regional capital.
In a viral social media post, Mr Cubagee exposed the inefficiency and low commitment of the waste management unit of the assembly.
He took his cameras to the refuse site inside the Sunyani Estate exposing the heaps of uncollected maggots infested garbage in the community.
The former Assembly Member revealed that the Assembly had placed a waste levy collector at the refuse site to generate income to finance the waste management in the estate.
He, however, alleged that the Assembly in spite of the charges still uses part of the common fund to finance the waste management.
When contacted, Mr. Daniel Korkor, the Sunyani Municipal Environmental Health Analyst said he had instructed his team to clear all the refuse sites and assured that the situation would be addressed by midday on Monday 30th March, 2026.
However, at the time of filing this report, the problem still persisted, and even worsened due to the onset of the rains.
From Edmond Gyebi, Sunyani
