By Jones Anlimah
More than 200 young people in the Volta Region on Saturday participated in a clean-up exercise at the Ho Main Market and Lorry Park as part of activities marking the 2026 International Youth Day celebration.
The exercise, organised by the National Youth Authority (NYA) in collaboration with the Ho Municipal Assembly, aimed at promoting environmental sanitation while encouraging volunteerism among the youth.
The Volta Regional Director of the National Youth Authority, Mr. Yao Semorde, said the clean-up formed part of a nationwide programme to commemorate International Youth Day and recognise the contribution of young people to national development.
“This year’s celebration is themed “Rebuilding Values, inspiring Patriotism: Empowering the Youth in the Digital Age” and is in recognition of the contribution of young people to the development of our country. We are doing a nationwide celebration and, at the regional level, we have undertaken this clean-up exercise at the Ho Main Market,” he said.
Mr. Semorde said the Authority sought to instil in young people the spirit of volunteerism and selfless service.
“We intend planting into young people the spirit of volunteerism so that they will not be asking, ‘What is in it for me?’ before they contribute their quota to nation building. We want young people to know they should make this country better than they found it,” he stated.
He commended the participants for their commitment, describing the turnout and effort as encouraging.
“We have gathered here today to show love to Mother Ghana by cleaning the lorry park. We have seen so much effort here, and what they have done is a great job,” he said.
Mr. Sermodey said activities marking International Youth Day in the region would continue with engagements at churches, mosques and a youth camp before the national climax in Kumasi on August 12.
Assistant Environmental Health Analyst at the Environmental Health Unit of the Ho Municipal Assembly, Ms. Cinderella Esinam Agbakpe, praised the collaboration between the Assembly and the National Youth Authority.
“As you can see, today’s programme has been carried out successfully. We thank the National Youth Authority for helping us to carry out the exercise,” she said.
She urged residents to regard environmental sanitation as a shared responsibility instead of relying solely on government.
“We should understand that government will not come and tidy up the place for us. It is we, the individuals, who create the nuisance. Until we all accept that sanitation is everybody’s responsibility, the place will not be clean,” she stressed.
Ms. Agbakpe added that maintaining Ho’s reputation as Ghana’s “Oxygen City” required the collective efforts of all residents.
