GASMILLA, "TELEMO" HITMAKER, SET TO PARTNER GA EAST TO PROMOTE SANITATION WITH SCHOOL KIDS AS THE CHANGE AGENTS

GEMANEWS: Tuesday, 28th September, 2021; Abokobi

Gasmilla, well known in Ghanaian and international music scenes for his hit-song, "Telemo", has moved his sanitation campaign train to the Ga East Municipality, where he is expected to organize a community clean-up exercise and a kids programme on sanitation to sensitize community members on the need to keep their homes and surroundings clean.

The project, titled, "Communal Cleanup Festival", by the award-winning musician seeks to use children as change agents to promote good sanitation practices in line with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's vision to "Make Accra the Cleanest City in Africa" and advance the "Let's Make Accra Work" campaign by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Hon. Henry Quartey.

Speaking to GEMANEWS ahead of his sanitation programme at Old Ashongman in the Ga East Municipality on Saturday, 2nd October, 2021, at 6am, Gasmilla stated that his quest to promote sanitation dates back to his childhood days at Point 205 Agege, a suburb of Dansoman, where though was a very clean community, but as he grew up, it became filthier by the day.

Gasmilla said he began to realize his childhood dream of seeing his community always clean when he started his music career, noting that the campaign started with the cleaning of the coastal belt but realized the more they carried out the exercise, the more filth emerged at the shores.

He  soon observed that all the drains were channeled into the sea, while residents were also engaged in the practice of piling up refuse and throwing them into the drains whenever it rained.

 Hence the constant filth at the shores.

He revealed that he was touched by this situation and therefore initiated the project which focuses on the children in schools and communities as the agents to cause the needed change in society, particularly with sanitation practices.

"When you tell a kid don't put something here or at point 'A' and you do put it there, the kid will tell you, 'but dad you told me not to put it here' and that's how they police us into doing the right things", he opined.

Gasmilla, accompanied by Candy Laryea, his Personal Assistant, called on the Municipal Coordinating Director (MCD), Mrs. Vera Akuffo-Mante, on Tuesday, 28th September, 2021, to introduce and discuss the implementation of the project in the Municipality.

With the MCD in the meeting were the Presiding Member (PM) - Hon. Jesse Nii Noi Anum, Municipal Director of Education (MDE) - Mr. Francis Steel, Human Resource Manager at the Education Directorate -  Mr. Winfred Addae, as well as the Municipal Finance Officer (MFO) -  Ruby M. Bruce-Bortey (Mrs.) and Public Relations Officer (PRO) -  Okunyin Boaz Orlan-Hackman, of the Assembly.

Briefing the officials, Gasmilla said the project started in 2015 with the first phase implementation taking place at Jamestown, Osu, La, Teshie, and Nungua.

He said, this year, the project has been implemented in six communities; namely, Jamestown, Osu, Kpone, Teshie, La, and Pokuase, with Old Ashongman in the Ga East Municipality set to become the seventh (7th) community.

Gasmilla, giving an outline of the programme said it is in two parts; general clean-up exercise where containers will be mounted at vantage points in the community for the residents to clear and dump their piled up refuse for free, from 6am to 10am, with the second part being a kids show titled, "shwɛ mɔ kɛ nee kasemɔ", from 11am to 5pm, where the kids will participate in various exciting play activities through which they are expected to learn and practice in the community aimed at helping to cause attitudinal and behavioural change towards sanitation.

He encouraged parents and guardians to prepare their children to participate in this great programme.

Gasmilla also expressed absolute delight at the formation of Sanitation Clubs programme in all the 31 Public Basic Schools in the Municipality initiated under the immediate-past MCE, Hon. Janet Tulasi Mensah, and pledged to support it to ensure its sustainability and attainment of its goals.

The MCD, Mrs. Vera Akuffo-Mante, on behalf of the Assembly and the Education Directorate, thanked Gasmilla and his team for considering Ga East and selecting Old Ashongman as the destination for the next activities under the project.

She pledged the full support of the Assembly towards the project to ensure it is successfully organized. 

The ace musician, noted for his melodious and danceable Ga songs, is expected to perform some of his songs, including "Telemo", arguably the most popular of all.

End.

By: Okunyin Boaz Orlan-Hackman 

Pictures: Benjamin Andoh Takyi