BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE
Though
these are not being trumpeted like other issues, some of Ghana’s leading
political parties have made pledges in the provision of water, sanitation and
hygiene services, should they be voted into power at Ghana’s general elections
on December 7, 2012.
The
pledges have not been made on campaign platforms such as issues of job creation
and education, which have been hammered on by almost all eight presidential
candidates in the race to become the next president of Ghana’s fourth republic.
They
are however hidden in their manifestos, albeit some have given just little
mention of the issues of water, sanitation and hygiene, although they are very
essential to the existence of the very people they seek to rule.
Interestingly
too, although the elections is just hours away, some of the major parties
contesting in the 2012 edition, have not even made public their manifestos –
that is – if they actually have them.
Only
three of the contesting parties – the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC),
New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Convention People’s Party (CPP) have manifestos
that have been made public and which spell out the plans they have for the
Ghanaian people, including plans for water, sanitation and hygiene.
The
rest – People’s National Convention (PNC), Progressive People’s Party (PPP),
United Front Party (UFP), Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and the only
independent candidate, Mr. Joseph
Osei-Yeboah have not as much as made known to Ghanaians what they have to offer
them by way of a documented manifesto, should they be voted into power.
NPP
However,
having identified that Ghana’s potable water supply in both urban and rural
areas is inadequate, the NPP pledges in its 115-page (59 PDF) 2012 manifesto
titled “Transforming Lives, Transforming Ghana”: “We will implement a
strengthened National Water Policy,
which
will greatly improve supply, hygiene and sanitation. Our goal is to ensure that
every Ghanaian has access to potable water. We will continue the programme of
the Kufuor government, which undertook major water systems improvements nationwide
including Cape Coast, Mankessim, Koforidua, Kumasi, Kwanyarku, Ada, Sogakope,
the Accra East – West interconnection and Tamale,” adding, “The programme led
to the completion of over 9,000 new boreholes and 500 new pipe water systems.”
Water and Sanitation
Specifically, the party promises in its six-chapter
manifesto: “To improve further the supply of water, we will build more urban
water systems, sink at least 5,000 more boreholes, and build 300 more small
water systems.” With regards to sanitation, the New Patriotic Party pledges to use
waste to generate electricity in Ghana and also encourage the use of
biodegradable plastics. How much it will devote to that and how it plans to
embark on that project is however not spelt out.
Touching on the environment, the party says “We
will embark on an ambitious reforestation programme” to restore degraded
forests, adding; “This will serve the multi-purpose of protecting the
environment, creating immediate jobs for our youth and creating future wealth.
We will employ the same concept to use waste to generate electricity in Ghana.”
NDC
For
its part, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party in its 2012 manifesto
titled “Advancing the better Ghana agenda” first prides itself of its
achievements in water, sanitation and hygiene before outlining further plans
for the people of Ghana if their mandate is renewed.
The
NDC lists its achievements as; the
adoption of the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) strategy, which has
started in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Central Regions as a
response to poor attitudes and behaviours and the resultant waste management
challenges; the procurement of 200 motorcycles, 5 pickups and computers
for Environmental Health and Sanitation directorates for distribution to
regional and district environmental health offices for effective facilitation
of sanitation service delivery at the community level and the allocation of 700
assorted waste management equipment to all the MMDAs during the last four years.
In
order to sustain water delivery, the party says it has been able to adopt a proposal for
the establishment of a ‘Water Fund’ to insulate the poor and marginalised who
cannot afford to pay for water; expanded the coverage level for rural and small towns water from 57%
in 2008 to 63.34% in 2011 and also expanded the coverage level of urban water to 63.3% at the end of
2011.
“The
NDC Government will make even more interventions in the next four years with
the goal of attaining ‘Water for All’ by 2020,” the party promises.
This
it hopes to do, by rolling out strategic measures to ensure the efficient
management of water resources through the integration
of water resources management and development with environmental management, to
ensure sustainability of water resources in both quantity and quality, co-ordination
of water resources planning with land use planning and reforestation programmes
for all major river basins.
If
given a second term, the NDC plans to promote climate change adaptation
measures, promote re-use and re-cycling of
water through the use of effective water treatment systems, establish schemes to support, encourage and promote
rainwater harvesting; identify and assess ground water resources to enhance water
availability.
Urban Water
To
improve urban water coverage, the NDC Government promises to mobilise funds for
the construction of new, and the rehabilitation and expansion of existing water
treatment plants; encourage Public Private Partnerships in water services
delivery; and establish a “Water Fund” to support the implementation of a
pro-poor water pricing regime.
Rural Water
To enhance rural water supply, the party says in
addition to the 20,000 boreholes to be drilled nation-wide, the NDC Government
will: establish and operationalise mechanisms for water quality monitoring; and
introduce ultraviolet water purification schemes in rural communities where the
new approach will be cost-effective.
Sanitation
With respect to sanitation, the NDC says it will put
the provision of sanitation facilities at the core of Government’s social
policies and programmes over the next four years with key policy initiatives, including
the establishment
of a National Sanitation Authority (NSA) as an autonomous agency under the
Local Government Service to coordinate a harmonised sanitation policy and
programme, for implementation by the MMDAs and private sector operators.
The NDC also pledges to implement the “Sanitation
for All Ghana Compact” and have it managed sustainably by the new National Sanitation Authority as a special
body under the Local Government Service with independent sources of funding and
a strong enforcement mandate on issues of sanitation and waste management.
Open defecation has become a scourge on the country
Ghana and the NDC pledges to promote behavioural change for ensuring
open-defecation free communities, acquire and develop land and sites for the
treatment and disposal of solid waste in major towns and cities, provide modern
toilet facilities in public basic schools, establish new and renovate old
recycling plants, enforce bye-laws on sanitation by all MMDAs, particularly the
prosecution of landlords who fail to provide toilet facilities in their homes
and establish
special courts to deal with persons or industries that do not comply with
sanitation bye-laws – these however, already exist and it is not known if they
will add to the already existing sanitation courts.
CPP
The
Convention People’s Party (CPP) devotes few lines of its 13-page manifesto to
the environment and even fewer lines to water, sanitation and hygiene.
The
party states generally in chapter nine of its manifesto that touches on the
environment, that it will monitor on regular basis all violations of
regulations concerning the environment, particularly those pertaining to the
production and dumping of chemical and industrial waste, the pollution of the
air, water and the damage of land and shorelines through indiscriminate
exploitation of resources and the uncontrolled disposal of waste.
Specifically, it mentions that it will “liaise with
the Ministry of Health to educate the public on the disposal of human waste and
the management of such waste as not to become a health hazard.”
