IMANI Africa Vice President Kofi Bentil has argued that sustained city management, rather than periodic communal clean-up exercises, is the more effective approach to maintaining clean cities.
His comments come after the Government of Ghana declared July 10 and 11, 2026 as nationwide general cleaning days following the June 29 floods.
In a social media post, Bentil said communal cleaning may be necessary in societies facing sanitation challenges, but it should not be viewed as a long-term solution.
“It’s a good thing in a dysfunctional society to once a while ask citizens to clean the city, that is not a virtue however,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to him, cities that remain clean do so through consistent sanitation systems rather than relying on residents to carry out clean-up exercises.
“There’s no clean city in the world where citizens clean. All cities where citizens clean are never clean,” he stated.
Bentil argued that governments and city authorities should focus on fulfilling their responsibilities by ensuring regular waste management and sanitation services.
“When governments and city authorities fail in their duty, they resort to these antics which never solve the problem,” he said.
He added that previous public clean-up exercises involving political leaders had not produced lasting results.
“We have had presidents cleaning gutters in Accra and that never cleaned the city because it is not sustainable,” he wrote.
Bentil cited cities such as New York and Mexico City as examples of places where continuous sanitation management keeps urban areas clean.
“Proper city management which ensures continued cleaning is the way to maintain clean cities, not communal labour,” he said.
He also argued that professionals whose work is essential should continue performing their duties instead of taking part in activities that should be handled by city sanitation workers.
“If you’re a surgeon and have to go and do life-saving surgery, please go to work and save lives. Don’t waste your precious time doing what city labourers must do,” he stated.
