MTN Ghana staff, together with volunteers from Bus Stop Boyz and Mckingtorch Africa, converged on the Sakumono beach area for a clean-up exercise as part of the telecommunications giant’s Sustainability Week celebration.
Armed with gloves, sacks, and buckets, the volunteers split into teams and combed the coastline, collecting heaps of waste—plastic bottles, sachet water bags, soft drink packs, grocery bags, takeaway containers, candy wrappers, styrofoam, torn clothing, rags, and even pieces of footwear.
The assortment of items retrieved revealed not only how polluted the beach had become, but also how urgently intervention was needed.
Speaking during the activity, MTN Ghana’s Sustainability Manager, Rhoderlyn Entsua Mensah, explained that the beach clean-up formed part of day four of Sustainability Week, an initiative focused on recovering and recycling waste into useful products.
According to her, removing plastics, glass, and metals from the shorelines is vital for protecting marine life, ensuring cleaner waters, and safeguarding the food chain.
“We are here to recover waste that can be recycled into usable products, which our partners will process,” she said.
She urged Ghanaians to take part in regular beach clean-ups, stressing that clean coastlines reduce disease, promote safer swimming, and improve fishing grounds that many communities depend on for food and livelihoods.
Rhoderlyn added that clean beaches also enhance tourism—one of the country’s key economic drivers.
“We all have a role to play. If we dispose of waste properly and separate recyclables at home and in our workplaces, less will end up in landfills and our water bodies. Sustainability must become personal if we want to solve our waste problem,” she said.
Founder of Mckingtorch Africa, Makafui Awuku, lamented the alarming volume of waste washed ashore from households across the city.
He commended MTN Ghana for its partnership and called on more corporate institutions to demonstrate a stronger commitment toward addressing Ghana’s waste management challenges.
