Sankofaonline News Desk | Kofi Addo Contributing
Ghana is bleeding from a wound inflicted not by natural disaster, not by foreign aggression, but by the quiet, corrosive negligence of those entrusted with its care. A recent scene reported from the North Okaikwei Municipal area , covering Achimota and Christian Village , is not merely an eyesore. It is a national indictment.
A citizen raised alarm about a sprawling garbage takeover along a major roadside. The response from a sanitation officer was chilling in its apathy: “Go, set up a CCTV so next time they can arrest the one who did it.”
Meanwhile, the garbage remains. The danger remains. The threat to life remains.
This is not incompetence. It is abandonment.
A Roadside Turned Into a Death Trap
The video evidence paints a picture that should outrage every Ghanaian.
A massive open trench runs parallel to a busy paved road, its edges swallowed by a mountain of plastic bottles, wrappers, and decomposing waste. Freshly cut tree logs and branches lie scattered across the muddy shoulder. A broken street lamp post lies collapsed like a fallen soldier, surrounded by stagnant water, overturned signs, and thick debris.
Yet traffic flows normally just inches away , cars, SUVs, delivery trucks, motorbikes all navigating a clean paved road while a disaster brews at its shoulder. Pedestrians walk past billboards advertising banking apps, fuel brands, and even religious warnings. Life goes on, but the danger grows.
This is not a mere sanitation issue. It is a public safety emergency.
The Cost of Negligence: Floods, Deaths, and National Decay
Ghana loses lives every year to preventable flooding.
Preventable because clogged drains, blocked waterways, and unmanaged waste are not acts of God. They are acts of negligence.
When public servants respond to urgent hazards with dismissive instructions like “go and set up CCTV,” they are not just failing their duties. They are contributing directly to the next flood, the next destroyed home, the next lost Ghanaian life.
This behavior is not isolated. It is systemic. It is entrenched. And it is killing us.
A Public Service Culture in Crisis
The Ghanaian public deserves better than:
- Negligent sanitation oversight
- Unresponsive municipal leadership
- Dangerous roadside conditions
- Accountability avoidance
Public service is not a suggestion. It is a mandate. It is a solemn responsibility. When officers dismiss citizens, they dismiss the nation.
Ghana Must Demand Better —Immediately
This moment demands national outrage, not resignation.
Ghanaians must insist on:
- Immediate removal of obstructive hazardous wastes on our roads and gutters
- Strict enforcement of sanitation laws
- Active monitoring of municipal officers
- Transparent reporting on sanitation failures
- Consequences for dereliction of duty
Negligence must no longer be normalized. It must be confronted.
Sankofaonline’s Role: Journalism That Does Not Blink
Sankofaonline must rise to this moment with fearless civic journalism. The platform must:
- Investigate municipal failures
- Expose dangerous sanitation lapses
- Educate the public on their rights
- Demand accountability from local authorities
- Document the human cost of negligence
Ghana needs media that does not flinch, does not soften, and does not apologize for demanding accountability.
A Nation Worth Fighting For
The scene at North Okaikwei is not just a dirty roadside. It is a mirror reflecting a deeper national crisis , a crisis of responsibility, of leadership, of care.
Ghana cannot continue losing lives to preventable disasters.
Ghana cannot continue tolerating public servants who shrug at danger.
Ghana cannot continue pretending that negligence is normal.
This is the moment to demand a new standard , for God, for country, and for every Ghanaian whose life depends on a functioning state.
