Ghana’s former president John Rawlings has agreed to be the ambassador of a sanitation campaign which is being spearheaded by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.

The campaign is aimed at applauding persons and companies who maintain a clean environment in Accra and to punish those who do the contrary.

Three companies have so far been served with warning notices by the AMA and have been given five days to tidy up.

Mayor of Accra, Nii Adjei Sowah on Tuesday led some sanitary inspectors across the Metropolis and inspected some facilities to find out if they were abiding by strict environmental practices.

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At the Ridge residence of the ex-president, the team was excited with how the former president had kept his surroundings.

“We realized that you are not only keeping the inner compound very green but the outer compound is also very green and the AMA wants to show its appreciation to you by giving you this plaque which shows that the City of Accra recognizes your continuous effort at ensuring a clean beautiful and manicured surroundings,” the Mayor of Accra said.

He further asked the ex-president to kindly accept to be the ambassador of sanitation for the AMA, and Mr Rawlings gladly accepted.

“I certainly will [be the ambassador] and keep up the pressure. Don’t ease up at all. There is a lot of fight ahead of us. When you can’t change people’s habit, change the environment and make them respond to it. It brings about a social sense of responsibility. That is what we need to restore the discipline that we used to be associated with,” the former president said.

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Meanwhile, the AMA has reintroduced the “saman saman” campaign where officials of the AMA go around Accra to inspect homes and offices to ensure good sanitation practices.