Abstract:
Over the past decade, there have been various efforts by the Central as
well as Local governments in Ghana to ensure that effective systems are in place
to manage waste generated in the country. Despite these efforts, waste
management in the country still leaves a lot to be desired. The case of Mankessim
Township in the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly is not different. This therefore
raises questions about effectiveness of these efforts, requiring an assessment of
current municipal solid waste management systems as a basis for planning and
making improvement in the system. It is against this background that this study
was undertaken. The mixed method approach (triangulation) whereby a
combination of interviews, questionnaire administration and field observation
were employed by the study. In all 391 subjects comprising of 378 residents of
Mankessim and thirteen key informants were used for the study whose population
consisted of residents aged 18 years and above and other key stakeholders. The
sample was selected using a combination of stratified and simple random
sampling approaches. The study revealed that the MMA does not have sufficient
skips within Mankessim, resulting in the township being regularly littered with
waste. This is especially the case in public places such as markets and lorry
stations where collections of waste were usually found at vantage points because
of logistical challenges of getting them collected regularly and on time. The study
recommends that the MMA prioritizes waste management and increase attention
and resources to the sector.
