The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has fined six food vendors, including a relative of Mayor Michael Kpakpo Allotey, a total of GH¢1,100 for operating during the September edition of the National Sanitation Day (NSD) exercise.
The vendors were sanctioned after AMA officials found them selling food at Okaishie and in front of the UTC area at Makola Mall instead of participating in the sanitation exercise last Saturday.
The Mayor’s relative, who sells kenkey, was among those fined, a move Mr Allotey said was deliberate to demonstrate that the Assembly’s sanitation directives applied to everyone, regardless of their relationship with those in authority.
Speaking during the exercise, the Mayor said he had no intention of shielding his relative from punishment, insisting that doing so would undermine the Assembly’s efforts to enforce sanitation regulations.
“If the Mayor can sanction a member of his own family for breaching the sanitation directives, then residents who have no relationship with him should equally expect to face the law when they fail to comply,” he said.
Mr Allotey said the sanction was intended to send a clear message to traders, food vendors and other residents that personal connections would not be accepted as a reason for evading enforcement.
He stressed that participation in the NSD exercise was a responsibility shared by residents and businesses, particularly those operating in busy commercial areas such as Okaishie and Makola.
The Mayor urged traders and food vendors to use sanitation days to clean their shops, stalls and surrounding areas before opening for business.
He said the purpose of the exercise went beyond punishing offenders, stressing that the broader goal was to change attitudes towards sanitation and make regular cleaning part of the daily responsibility of every resident and business operator in Accra.
The sanctioning of his relative, he added, was intended to reinforce the principle that the sanitation rules applied without fear or favour.
