A sanitation expert has called on Ghanaians to desist from blaming the management of Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL) for the filth that has engulfed the country.

According to him, the waste management company cannot be blamed for the filth that stares many Ghanaians in the face despite the promise by the president to make Accra the cleanest city in the West African sub-region. 

Nana Ogyegu Korankye Wontumi II, Country Director for Praxis Africa, exonerated the management of Zoomlion Ghana Limited from blame while discussing the issue of filth in the cities across the country.

Nana Wonntumi II who is also the Gyaasehene of Kotrope in the Akwamu Traditional Area speaking in an interview with Mr Emmanuel Quarshie (The Hitman) on the Ghana Yensom morning show on Accra 100.5 FM on Monday, 26 September 2022 explained that the right institutions to blame for the tons of filth in the cities are Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

He noted that Zoomlion is just a service provider, just like any service provider, with expertise in managing waste in the country.

He added that there are many service providers providing services to the MMDAs across the country. 

He said the heads of the MMDAs have over the years failed to be innovative in managing filth in the country.

He was of the view that the service providers may have the expertise but if the Assemblies do not implement policies and programmes to enable the likes of Zoomlion to fully collect the heaped filth generated in the cities, they will be overwhelmed by it. 

"Getting rid of filth in many of the cities is the responsibility of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs)," he said. 

"The MMDCEs wield the power to lay the foundation for the service providers to fully operate," he added. 

"If the MMDCEs fail to utilize the power they wield to implement policies targeted at getting rid of the filth in the country, we will be where we are today with filth staring everyone in the face," he reiterated. 

He argued that if there are no policies and programmes at the Assemblies to collect filth, a service provider has no power to do so.

"Many of the Assemblies have no policy and programmes for the collection of filth in their jurisdiction," Nana Wonntumi II said.

He noted if the Assemblies fail to provide collection points for the service providers to collect the filth, all attempts by the likes of Zoomlion will come to naught.

"I am not a Zoomlion advocate but I think they cannot be blamed for the filth we see in the cities," he said and explained that sanitation is a shared responsibility.