The Best Memorial for Alhaji Aliu Mahama

Demonstrating gratitude to loyal citizens, even posthumously, is always an honourable thing.        Undoubtedly, the late former Vice President, Mr. Aliu Mahama would beam handsomely for his remembrance, if he could witness it. But I am positive that he would even be happier if he was remembered for his passion for cleanliness and sanitation. It is a pity that his passionate campaign could not motivate fellow country people to collaborate with him for sustainable safe waste management. The poor support must have galled him.

Whilst it is logical to include general cleaning in the activities slated for his anniversary, it would be excellent if the occasion would be used to commence a new culture in safe waste management, persuade the general populace to be conscientious managers of waste. The anniversary should be a radical departure from the usual mass cleaning which end in dumping waste on the curb of gutters, only for wind and rain to litter and return to the gutters. It should begin a conscientious agenda in waste sorting and recycling to protect health and the environment. All residents have a responsibility to review their attitude towards waste. It is time for a new waste culture in Ghana.

Evidently, majority of Ghanaians are not rethinking their position on waste management that is why they litter, which is the reason we are engulfed by filth. Through our poor management of waste, we degrade the environment, deface the country and subject ourselves to preventable diseases and death. We neglect our sanitation responsibilities, then blame witches and politicians for our maladies. When other communities are creating wealth out of filth, we spend huge amounts of money on filth and sacrifice precious lives on its altar. The nation failed the then Vice President when it denied him a sustainable support for a clean Ghana.

However, it is never too late to do the right thing, the conscientious thing, especially, when it concerns this space we call our home. Hitherto, it was the late Vice President’s campaign; this 5^th anniversary should commence a holistic approach to waste management. Yes, strategize for the safe management of all types of waste among the populace. There are avenues for exploration:

Experts have indicated that 60-65 % of the waste generated in Ghana is organic, which could be recycled into organic manure for the regeneration of the top soil. Through research and improved technology, vermicomposting (earthworm farming) has become a formidable force in recycling organic waste; it combines kitchen waste, paper, garden and industrial waste. Worms consume the waste and process into organic manure. If we explored vermicomposting to reduce the waste sent to the landfill by about 65 %, we would indeed honour the memory of the late Vice President with a clean Ghana. The good news is that vermicomposting can be done at home, at work, in schools, in offices on farms. So future articles will take readers through the basic steps of vermicomposting and challenge Ghanaians to manage the waste they generate. Between vermicomposting and bio-fuel technology, organic waste should be absolutely recycled in this country.

Even though plastic waste has become a global headache, in Ghana it is especially an environmental menace and a national nightmare. Though a cross-section of the business community operates successful plastic businesses or patronise the product, they hardly recycle the used products, hence the plastic crisis. Sweden has taken quite a lead in innovative handling of plastic. Ghana should collaborate in order to find a lasting solution to the plastic waste menace. Such a collaboration could empower plastic manufacturers to operate plastic recycling programmes.

Electronic waste is just as troubling as all the other types of waste left unmanaged. Elsewhere, manufacturers of electronic gadgets have established electronic waste management systems, which take care of used materials. On such products, consumers are prompted not to dispose electronic waste anyhow but to send them to recycling posts. The problem is that Ghana does not have any such post, so used gadgets end in the hands of scrap collectors. Recently, BBC’s Click programme featured a sophisticated plant which recycles electronic materials in Ireland. It compared practices in other countries and featured Ghana’s Agbloboshie market where boys were busily dismantling discarded computers. The host warned that the boys’ exposure to radioactive materials makes them highly susceptible to dangerous diseases.

Communication service providers in Ghana perform all kinds of social responsibilities, but none has established an electronic waste recycling plant, though they import enormous amounts of electronic gadgets. They fund beauty pageants, build schools, among other commendable projects, but they actually neglect the primary duty of tackling waste from their principal activity. By selectively fulfilling social responsibility, the companies endorse environmental degradation, compromise the health of the very people they claim to help. It is time the nation safely recycled electronic waste, and the onus of responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of communication service providers. The National Communication Authority and National Media Communication must ensure that communication service providers safely recycle waste from their primary activity before they engage in other social activities.

Indeed, the 5th anniversary must catapult Ghana to the 5R Principles of safe waste management: Rethink position on waste management. Reuse materials. Reduce the waste sent to the landfill. Recycle waste. Regenerate exhausted elements. Every principle requires action; therefore, if the 5Rs hallmarked the anniversary, it would not be characterised by the usual Ghanaian unfettered celebration. Rather, it would start a practice that would give true meaning to waste management, and which could eventually rid us of filth. Then, in another five years, the celebration will be themed, look, a clean Ghana! That would be the best memorial for the late Vice President. In fact, we have no claim to human dignity as long as we are engulfed by filth! If we all realised that, we would conscientiously manage waste in both domestic and public spaces. In other words, it is time we stopped talking, expected somebody to do something and acted, because waste management is about individual and collective action.