Poor Sanitation Problem Facing Ghana

Poor sanitation costs the country $290 million each year, the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) has said.

The amount represents 1.6 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to a study conducted by the directorate, open defecation costs the country $79 million per year, while premature death from poor water, sanitation and hygiene costs the taxpayer $215 million.
An official of the EHSD, Mr Kweku Quansah, told participants at a four-day workshop organised by Plan Ghana in Accra that the country also lost $19 million each year in access time for open defecation.

“Each opened defecation person spends 2.5 days every year finding an obscure place to hide, leading to economic losses,” he said.
The workshop was meant to begin the implementation of the testing modified community led sanitation (CLTS) scalability project designed by Plan International, with support grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to be implemented in Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia with different models.
Mr Quansah said $1.5 million was lost each year due to productivity losses, while $54 million was spent each year on the treatment of diarrhoea and its consequences for other diseases such as respiratory infections and malaria.

The study also revealed that approximately 13,900 Ghanaian adults and 5,100 children under five died each year from diarrhoea, out of which nearly 90 per cent was directly attributed to sanitation and water problems.
It also revealed that 4.63 million Ghanaians had no latrines at all and defecated in the open, while 16.34 million used unsanitary or shared latrines.
Mr Quansah noted that with the current sanitation coverage of 14 per cent and the current negative practices of open defecation, it would be difficult for the country to meet the Millennium Development Goal on sanitation, which has a target of 54 per cent, unless the public changed their attitude.

According to the report, a person in the Upper East Region was 27 times less likely to use a latrine as a person in Ashanti Region.
For regional disparity on open defecation, Upper East recorded 82 per cent; Upper West, 79 per cent; Northern and Volta, 31 per cent, and Central, 18 per cent.
The Western Region recorded 13 per cent; Greater Accra, eight per cent; Eastern and Brong Ahafo, six per cent, and Ashanti, three per cent.

Mr Quansah said because sanitation was among the powerful drivers of a nation’s development, there was the need to change the old mindset of providing, prescribing and teaching and rather adopt the ‘we do it for them’ spirit.
“With a little effort, we will achieve the 54 per cent target of the MDG on sanitation. All we need is to intensify our advocacy, show commitment and enforce our laws at all levels,” he said.

The Progressive People’s Party

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has finally been given the green light to operate as a fully-fledged political party in the country.

The Electoral Commission Thursday presented a provisional license to the PPP. The party was formed last year after the 2008 flag-bearer of the Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP), Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom broke away.

The activities of the party were stalled due to the delay in securing the provisional license.
Kwame Nkrumah thought the UGCC's opposition to the colonial rulers lacked the necessary vehemence and urgency; he wanted immediate independence. Breaking from the UGCC on these grounds, he founded the CPP with the motto "self-government now".
This only increased Nkrumah's popularity. When general elections were held in 1951, the CPP won decisively despite the imprisonment of Dr Nkrumah and other party leaders. Nkrumah was subsequently released to form the colony's first African government.The final step was heavily rigged referendum in 1964 which made the CPP the only legal party, with Nkrumah as president for life of both nation and party. 
Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom broke  from Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP) to be the leader and the founder of  Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and now want to be the president of the Republic of Ghana.
The youth of Ghana is highly support PPP 2012 election as some group join as some slogan goes (PPP"the youth" ) .

Woyome Big Case To Change

Keen to stress the report is credible, Mr Akpadzi said EOCO consulted all the relevant documents and arrived at the conclusion that some government officials - both past and present - were negligent, giving rise to the situation.

Outspoken NPP member and MP for Assin North, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong has welcomed the arrest of embattled NDC financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome and wants the arrest of some ex-government officials implicated in the EOCO report.

According to Kennedy Agyapong, any action by the state that will get to the bottom of the Woyome saga must be appreciated and welcomed by every Ghanaian regardless of one’s political affiliation.

He said it will be unfair to Alfred Woyome if he is the only one arrested while other government officials implicated in the EOCO report over the controversial GHS58 million judgment debt paid to Woyome walk free.

The arrest of Mr. Woyome was necessitated by assurances from President Mills that anybody found culpable in the raging Woyome judgment debt saga will face the law. The Economic and Organized Crimes Office on Thursday presented to President Mills an interim report of its investigations on the matter, indicting Woyome of wrongfully suing the state when he had no basis whatsoever to do so.

Alfred Woyome has resigned his chairmanship of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBBSI) to allow full investigations into the matter.

Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen on Friday soon after the arrest of Woyome, Ken Agyapong noted that the arrest of Woyome shows the law is now working but he should not go alone. ”I see the law is now working and I don’t care who is involved whether past or current officials.”

“It is sad Woyome does not think about Ghana and being led by money, money, money. He has now landed himself into trouble. Woyome is a nation wrecker who should not be countenanced at all,” ken said.

He stressed that some ex-government officials who were indicted in the EOCO report which was presented to the President, must also be arrested by the BNI to testify of what they knew of the Woyome saga. “Our own people who know about the deal must also be arrested to BNI and testify their side of the story. I know that the name Woyome has no contract with the government of Ghana but went ahead to claim money from the state”.

He also called for the immediate arrest of owner of Trassaco Valley, Tarraconi who he accused of also benefiting 38 million euros in judgment debt using the name of Waterville Engineering Company.

”Tarraconi must also be arrested for defrauding the country. His company has been compensated already but went ahead to claim another money from government. He is a fraudster and should not be left freely because he is a white. No!”

The NPP firebrand asserted that former Attorney General, Betty Mould Iddrisu who was involved in the payment of the money to Woyome must also be arrested immediately. “It is Betty Mould who put pressure on the Finance Minister to pay the money to Woyome so she is also culpable”.

Kennedy Agyapong said even though the arrest of Alfred Woyome is good news, it is an attempt by President Mills to exonerate himself and the party (NDC).

“Mills is just playing on the minds of Ghanaians by sacrificing Woyome and leaving out others. In politics, for a party like the NDC to be affected then someone must be sacrificed to save it. Mills is just sacrificing Woyome in order to save the NDC from shame and big disgrace but still Woyome deserves the treatment meted out to him,” he asserted.

He wondered why Waterville, clearly knowing that they had a contract and needed to be compensated, would use Woyome? ”You see Waterville knew they had nothing to claim from government of Ghana so they hid at the back of Woyome to claim cheap money from Ghana. Why is it that they gave power of attorney to Woyome to sue government for compensation instead of Waterville themselves?”

The Assin North MP who flayed President Mills over the Woyome saga called on him to remove Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffour and Deputy A-G, Ebo Barton Oduro because they were all involved in the payment to Woyome. ”It will be unfair to Woyome if Betty, Barton Oduro, Duffour and others are not arrested for causing the nation dearly.”

2012 Budget of Ghana

The much awaited debate on the 2012 Budget statement has begun in earnest with the Minority in Parliament accusing the Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffuor of breaching the constitution. Led by the Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, the Minority chided the Finance Minister for exceeding total expenditure approved by Parliament. He also berated the Minister for not complying with the Petroleum Revenue Management Law .’ Parliamentary Correspondent Sammy Darko reported that the accusations were vehemently dismissed by the minister. He argued that exceeding total expenditure approved by Parliament was not an entirely new phenomenon.  The Minister, he said, referred to previous Budget statements in which the NPP also exceeded its expenditure approved by the Parliament and eventually brought a supplementary Budget.   According to Sammy Darko, the banter lasted for several minutes leaving the Speaker little choice but to ask the two to go outside and settle it for the debate to continue.   The debate as expected was partisan in nature with James Avedzi, Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament declaring the 2012 Budget as the best ever in the country’s history.

He touted stable macro economic indices capped by single digit inflation. He said for the first time the country has attained all the four convergence criteria for Ghana to be part of the Eco.   He was also gratified with the tax regime in the country, saying, it does not in anyway overburden the poor but rather rope in others who have continually evaded the payment of taxes.   But the Minority led by Anthony Akoto Osei was emphatic in describing the budget as a litany of failed promises.   He also stated that the budget is pregnant with distortions of facts, citing different figures provided by the Finance Minister on the total amount of revenue accrued from the sale of the crude oil.  According to Minority spokesperson on Finance, the figures provided by the Minister on the floor of Parliament and the one he caused to be published in Daily Graphic showed a whopping 14 million dollars unaccounted for. He said the minister must be more transparent in his dealings on the petroleum revenue.