President John Dramani Mahama has declared that cleanliness will now serve as a primary benchmark for evaluating the performance of Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs). This directive, announced during his Thank You Tour in Dodowa on Friday, May 16, marks a new era of accountability in public service delivery. The President, speaking to a crowd of enthusiastic supporters and local government officials, said the days of poor sanitation being treated as a minor inconvenience were over. From now on, the ability of local government leaders to maintain clean communities will directly determine whether they remain in office. “Cleanliness will become one of the key performance indicators for measuring the performance of MMDCEs and will determine whether they will remain in office or are removed,” President Mahama stated. The announcement comes amid growing public frustration over perennial flooding, especially in the capital, Accra. President Mahama also announced that the National Sanitation Day programme will return as a monthly, nationwide exercise. “This time, it will not be a symbolic event. It will be legally backed, properly funded, and operationalised through partnerships with local assemblies and private sector service providers,” he said. “Now that most of our DCEs have been nominated and confirmed, we will begin observing the National Sanitation Day programme every month,” he added. According to him, unlike its earlier incarnation, it will be guided by enforceable laws and integrated into the operational mandates of district assemblies.