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The creation of the Ministry for Sanitation and Water Resources signals government’s preparedness to tackle the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as other global, continental and national commitments.
According to WaterAid new country Director, Abdul-Nashiru Mohammed, government agencies and departments are not able to play their mandated roles effectively because of inadequate and ill-timed funding.
About five years ago, development partners were covering about 75% of the cost of delivering Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services but with Ghana’s status as a Lower Middle-Income Country (LMIC), development aid is dwindling. This makes it critical for government to consider alternative sources of funding especially public and private sector financing options.
There is the need to empower Environmental and Sanitation Officers to add considerable weight to their role for effective enforcement of laws and bye-laws. Hygiene promotion must also be intensified to help people appreciate the consequences of unhealthy practices for improved health outcome.
The Director also observed that although there were no direct linkages between extractive industrial revenue and WASH expenditure in Ghana, there were some legal provisions that offered the opportunity for channeling revenues into specific priority investments through the national budget.
The WaterAid Director revealed that they have assisted citizens to hold accountability platforms with service providers at which they invite service providers and ask them questions about the quality of their services. This provides an opportunity for citizens and service providers to learn from each other.
