Municipal Assemblies in Accra empowered and ready to fight air pollution after bootcamp

Air pollution is hard to fight, partly because most people cannot see it. The smoke from a burning refuse heap drifts away. The fumes from an old trotro fade into the traffic. But the fine particles they leave behind stay in the air, and in the lungs of the people who breathe them.

That makes it a silent killer. A UNDP investment case presented by Belynda Amankwa, Programme Specialist for Health, found that outdoor air pollution contributed to more than 12,000 deaths in Ghana in 2024, about 64 percent of them before the age of 70. It cost the economy about US$2 billion, equivalent to 2.3 percent of GDP. Stroke, lower respiratory infections and heart disease were among the leading causes.

For assemblies in Greater Accra, the challenge is not only that the danger is invisible. Many of the sources are scattered, from lorry stations and markets to backyard waste fires. Some sit outside their control.

The Municipal Chief Executive for Ga Central, Emmanuel Allotey, said much of the pollution in his municipality comes from poorly coordinated lorry stations and markets, and from badly maintained commercial vehicles.

"Assembly cannot determine which cars are roadworthy. We rely on DVLA to certify those cars for us," he said. "But you can see most of our commercial cars, the emissions are too much. Maintenance is very poor."

Mr Allotey was among Chief Executives, Coordinating Directors and Presiding Members of the 29 assemblies in Greater Accra who attended the Clean Air Leadership Bootcamp, organised by the Clean Air Fund at the Heartland Hotel in Ada-Foah on October 30.

He said the training had shown him the tools his assembly already has. "I have been empowered today because I have been exposed to the laws that are in our books that we can use to sanction those who do not follow the laid down rules," he said.

Those laws include air quality regulations passed in 2025, which set standards for ambient air and vehicle emissions, and require every district assembly to develop its own air quality management plan. Mrs Selina Amoah, Head of the Environmental Quality Unit at the Environmental Protection Authority, said assemblies must back those plans with their own money.

"We expect the assemblies to dedicate resources to implement actions identified in the plan and provide periodic reports," she said.

Desmond Appiah, Country Lead for Ghana at the Clean Air Fund, said the bootcamp targeted assembly leaders because that is where national commitments succeed or fail. "That is where the rubber hits the road," he said. "Even when government makes national and international commitments, the implementation of those commitments are done at the assembly level."

The evidence presented at the bootcamp shows how much work lies ahead. Prof. Williams Ackaah of the CSIR's Building and Road Research Institute said a study of more than 1,400 vehicles in Greater Accra found most exceeded Ghana's emission standard. "So we are going above our standard, and this is disturbing," he said. He said the DVLA tests vehicles only while idling, when they should also be tested while accelerating and carrying loads.

On waste burning, assemblies have more direct power. Dr Elvis Kyere-Gyeabour of the Breathe Cities Accra programme said waste burning accounts for about 35 percent of Accra's air pollution, compared with 18 percent from traffic. He said a model air pollution bylaw developed with the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council is awaiting gazetting, and any assembly can adopt it.

In Ga Central, enforcement has already begun. Mr Allotey said the assembly's sanitation task force educates residents first, then takes persistent offenders to court. "For those who are not listening, we take them to court for sanction when they burn their waste," he said.

He said the bootcamp has given him a clear message to take home. "Air pollution is actually a silent killer," he said. "It tells me that I need to go back and engage my stakeholders and let them know the dangers. If we don't take time, what will happen to all of us?"