The Mayor of Accra, Hon. Michael Kpakpo Allotey, has ordered the prosecution of Samir Engineering, a spare-parts company at Abossey Okai, Vision Transport, and 35 other individuals and business operators for refusing to close their shops and participate in Saturday’s citywide clean-up exercise under the relaunched National Sanitation Day.

The offenders mostly located at Tuesday market, Korle-Bu are Joseph Angela Tagoe, Sandra Mills, Elisabeth Quaye, Stella Adams, Eric Amenu, Vida Borbi, Victoria Allotey, Barbra Mills, Margaret Boafo, and Monica Tubelo.

Others include Samir Engineering, Kingsley Arthur, Abdul Aziz Ibrahim, and the management of Vision Transport, Aruko, and the manager of Kolaa and VVIP Transport Services, all located at Abossey Okai, Kaneshie First Light, Avenor, and Agbogbloshie Market, respectively, as well as Janet Nartey, Ernest Yeboah, Francis Salla, Grace, and Lillian Collins.

The rest are Hajia Barikisu, Edward, Forgive, Francisca Bediako, Monica Akua, Evelyn Addo, and Adjetey Laryea also at Korle – Bu.

According to the Mayor, the affected businesses and individuals ignored the Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s (AMA) directive requiring all shops and markets to remain closed while residents cleaned their immediate surroundings describing their actions as “a blatant disregard for lawful authority” that undermines collective efforts to improve sanitation across the metropolis.

Leading inspection teams through the Central Business District, Agbogbloshie, Abossey Okai, and other commercial corridors, the Mayor directed Public Health Officers to serve statutory notices and court summonses, indicating that the offenders would be arraigned before the new AMA Sanitation and Motor Court 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).

During the operation, Mayor Allotey also halted ongoing construction works at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, insisting that no activity should obstruct the citywide exercise.

“This clean-up is not just about sweeping streets; it is about building a culture of responsibility and pride in our environment,” the Mayor stated, urging traders, transport unions, faith groups, and residents to sustain the momentum.

The Mayor declared the entire month of October as “Sanitation Month” for Accra, announcing daily clean-up activities across markets, lorry stations, and neighbourhoods adding that the AMA would intensify public education and firm, impartial enforcement throughout the month, with continuous monitoring by Public Health Officers and zonal task forces.

He noted that while the majority of traders and residents complied with desilting drains, sweeping streets, and clearing refuse, those who failed to participate would face prosecution to protect the integrity of the city’s sanitation drive and advance his “clean, safe, and resilient Accra” agenda.

In total, 37 individuals and business entities were cited for prosecution for failing to comply with the AMA’s sanitation directive and for maintaining insanitary conditions during the exercise.

The Mayor reaffirmed that the AMA would ensure swift prosecution of all offenders and maintain strict enforcement of sanitation bye-laws to make Accra clean, orderly, and environmentally responsible.