Local Government Minister Moves to Overhaul Waste Management
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Local Government Minister Moves to Overhaul Waste Management in Ghana
The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, has announced plans to overhaul the system entirely, with government focusing its attention on collection, transportation, treatment, and how the whole process gets financed.
The announcement followed an early-morning inspection of waste management facilities in Accra, where Ayariga was joined by officials from the Ministry and a delegation from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).
Ayariga’s diagnosis of Ghana’s sanitation struggles was blunt: it’s not that the country lacks the technology to manage waste properly it’s that the system itself is poorly organised.
To address that, government plans to introduce proper waste separation at the household level, improve access to waste bins, and build transfer stations closer to where people actually live.
Treatment and composting facilities are also expected to be developed closer to urban centres to reduce the long distances travelled by waste collectors, he said.
For Ayariga, the site visit itself served a clear purpose a chance to look closely at existing infrastructure and pinpoint exactly where investment needs to go.
Ayariga also used the moment to push a broader principle: people and businesses in Accra should be paying toward the cost of the waste they actually generate.
He was direct about where he thinks the money shouldn’t come from. According to him, the District Assemblies Common Fund shouldn’t be propping up waste management in Accra, since that fund is meant to serve the whole country not subsidise the capital’s lifestyle at the expense of everywhere else.
His solution centres on better revenue collection at the local level basic rates, property rates, market rates, and sewage levies all aimed at strengthening assemblies’ financial capacity to handle waste on their own. He believes that with better organisation, the actual cost households pay for waste management could drop significantly.
BADEA’s Vice President, Dr Fatima El Sheik, who took part in the inspection, expressed confidence in Ghana’s direction on this front. She framed waste management as something bigger than sanitation alone pointing to the jobs and livelihoods it can create, alongside its environmental benefits.
Dr El Sheik said BADEA stands ready to support Ghana’s push toward a more efficient waste management system, describing Accra as a genuinely important hub on the continent.
Ayariga also revealed plans for a national campaign targeting poor sanitation habits, with enforcement and accountability set to become priorities under his leadership at the Ministry.
His closing message made clear this wasn’t about winning favour. His goal, he said, is to make people genuinely uncomfortable engaging in practices that undermine sanitation and responsible waste management popularity isn’t the point.
