The advocacy group, the Alliance for WASH Advocacy wants the government to come clean on whether or not it has released the additional GhC200 million budgetary allocation for the Sanitation Ministry.
The group lamented that the sanitary situation in the country has worsened following last Monday’s downpour which claimed at least ten lives and damaged property worth millions of cedis.
[contextly_sidebar id=”MGVcxyfRxM7uSRXJCaYDYxjyZ7Co27cg”]Speaking to Citi News after a press conference, the Technical Coordinator for the Alliance for WASH Advocacy, Attah-Arhin, said the government should prioritize the sanitation sector to prevent such incidents from recurring.
“We are asking the government how much of the budget for water and sanitation in the 2018 budget has been released. We are also asking the government to update us on the status of implementation of the national sanitation campaign particularly the promise of adding 200 million Ghana cedis to the budget of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, whether that money has been released and if the ministry has received it and for what activities are they going to use it.”
“But more importantly we want the government to prioritize water and sanitation which has multiple effects on all other sectors, and to increase financing to this sector.”
Since its inception, the Alliance has made some calls to the government on different issues surrounding sanitation to draw the attention of its effect on citizens.
The Alliance for WASH Advocacy is a Coalition of Local and International Non-Governmental Organisations and Networks in Ghana’s WASH sector.
It comprises of sector players such as CONIWAS, WaterAid Ghana, World Vision, SafeWater Network, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), People’s Dialogue, SNV-Ghana, Plan Ghana and International Forum (IF) among others.
“In November 2017, we submitted a memo to the ministry of sanitation and water resources (MSWR) (copied to the office of the president) calling on the government to review and align existing sector policies, increase its 2018 WASH budgetary allocation; and intensify efforts towards ending Open Defecation (OD). Following the National Sanitation Campaign, we also issued a communiqué making calls for the clear definition of roles, structures and operational modalities for the national sanitation Authority among others,” Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance, Ms. Nora Ollennu noted.
They also commended president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and government for the significant political commitments to the WASH sector, particularly sanitation.
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By: Ann-Shirley Ziwu/citinewsroom.com/Ghana