Adipa residents and MP demand halt to Accra waste transfers, give government seven days

Pinned summary · as of 04:18

People living around Adipa in the Nsawam-Adoagyiri municipality want the trucking of refuse from Agbogbloshie and other Accra areas to their landfill stopped. Their MP, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, who is also the Minority Chief Whip, and the area's assembly member, Emmanuel Asamoah, asked the government to explain why the site was chosen and set a seven-day deadline for a response.

What we know

• Mr Annoh-Dompreh demanded that the government explain why Adipa, in the Nsawam-Adoagyiri area, was picked as the destination for waste cleared from Accra, and why it is going from Greater Accra to the Eastern Region.
• The MP said the chiefs, residents, local assembly and assembly members were not engaged before the exercise started, and that the Local Government Minister should have consulted them. On 24 September 2026 he asked for the clearance to be suspended until communities are consulted.
• Mr Annoh-Dompreh also cited the governing party's promises on sustainable waste handling and asked if the present method squares with them.
• Mr Asamoah set a one-week deadline for the authorities to answer residents' demands. He cautioned that locals might think about closing off access roads to the dumping sites if the response is unsatisfactory, and said the community accepts regulated waste management but objects to being a convenient dumping place for waste from elsewhere.
• Through their representatives, residents called for dumping to stop at once, a separate expert study of environmental and health effects, and, within seven days, a public forum where municipal authorities would set out a long-term waste plan. The Chronicle and The Custodian also list permanent security barriers and surveillance among the demands.
• Mr Annoh-Dompreh told residents any protest should stay lawful, adding that a Minority MP's job is to voice constituents' concerns and press for accountability through constitutional channels.
• The dispute arises from the government's waste-evacuation exercise to remove built-up refuse from parts of Accra, Agbogbloshie among them, with the waste going to the Adipa landfill.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

• ?
  Mr Asamoah alleged that residents live with uncovered refuse, foul smells, rodents and flies, and that runoff from the site in the rain has affected drains and may be contaminating groundwater. These are his claims. The Custodian noted that no published environmental or health assessment has established them.
• ?
  Only MyJoyOnline reported Mr Asamoah linking residents' fears of malaria, cholera and respiratory illness to the landfill, and saying some families were thinking of leaving the community.
• ?
  Only The Custodian reported Mr Asamoah's claim that weak oversight around the dumping area had opened the door to illegal activity at night.
• ?
  MyJoyOnline described the operation as a 90-day effort to clear roughly one million tonnes of built-up refuse from Agbogbloshie and Jamestown, and reported Mr Annoh-Dompreh saying Nsumia had received waste in a similar way before. No other publication gave these details.
• ?
  Mohammed Nii Adjei Sowah, a former Accra Mayor, told Citi Newsroom that the residents were justified in demanding proper management of the landfill. He added that most of what is going to Adipa is material left from dredging in the Korle Lagoon area rather than routine daily waste, and that the site is currently critical to managing Accra's refuse. Nobody else has confirmed this account.
• ?
  In an editorial, The Ghanaian Chronicle commended the government for tackling the waste in Accra and said the clearance should be supported. It also argued that the problem should not simply be moved to another community, that trucks should work after 10:00 p.m. to avoid traffic, and that the site needs proper equipment, barriers and consultation with chiefs and residents. It said it saw the evacuation at about 7:00 p.m. on a Monday in heavy traffic. These are the newspaper's own views and observations.

Why it matters for Ghana

Households around Adipa in the Eastern Region say they are carrying the burden of Accra's clean-up, and the outcome will shape the air they breathe, the water they use and the neighbourhood they live in. The row also shows how hard it is for Accra to find places for large volumes of refuse, since Mr Sowah says suitable landfill land has become scarce. With the seven-day deadline running, the reply from the Local Government Ministry and the municipal assembly will indicate whether talks or road protests come next.