The offenders were arrested between the hours of 4:00 am and 6:00 am on Tuesday, February 21, at different locations within the Central Business District (CBD) of Accra.
The arrest was part of efforts by the Assembly to help reduce open defecation in the metropolis so as to ensure a clean and hygienic environment for the people.
Among the offenders arrested for dumping waste at unauthorized places was 46-year-old Rebecca Barnor Owuah, a sanitation worker under the Sanitation Model of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) supervised by Zoomlion Ghana Limited, and Akuley Tagoe 25, a Trader.
The rest who were arrested for open defecation are Bright Ayala 25, a boxer with the Wisdom Academy Gym in Jamestown, Suleman Yakubu 56, a Scrap dealer, Robert Quartey 52 years, Nii Quaye Isaac 37, a Driver, Abdul- Rashid Ayuba, 37, a Carpenter, Fuseini Alhassan, 31, a head porter, Ebenezer Nyarko 26, a coconut seller, Asamoah Dennis, 39 unemployed, Jesse Bills 27, unemployed, Kwaku Jacob 20, a staff of Sikkens, Kwame Ametordzi, 30 years unemployed, Ayetey Ayequaye, 40 unemployed and Adu-Gyamfi Bismark 32, a laborer.
Head of the Environmental Health Department of the AMA, Florence Kuukyi who led the team to effect the arrest said, the culprits would be given the option to sign a bond and pay a spot fine or face prosecution.
She stressed that the drains and open spaces were not places to attend nature’s call adding that it was against the AMA’s sanitation bye-laws.
“Open defecation leads to contamination of water sources and food…This can also cause typhoid fever, diarrhea, and cholera, this is why according to the bye-laws, every household must have a “place of convenience” or “toilet” and if it’s absent in a home, its occupants should visit the public toilets,” she said.
She urged residents and households who do not have toilet facilities to register with the assembly for one.
She cautioned that the Assembly had intensified its enforcement exercise and would not countenance any breach of the assembly’s bye-laws on sanitation, and food safety.
Open defecation ranking
Open defecation remains a very big health and environmental hazard in many developing countries in Africa.
Research suggests that about 2.4 billion people globally still lack access to improved sanitation, and about 946 million practice open defecation.
In Ghana, 27 percent of the population engages in open defecation due to a lack of latrines, and many are seen sharing sanitation facilities, which leads to the prevalence of sanitation-related diseases, according to a WHO/UNICEF 2012 report.
In 2017, Ghana was named among the top 10 countries worldwide with the highest percentage of its population without decent toilets.