Sanitation expert calls for development of community-level traditional authority–MMDA sanitation compact

Mr Patrick Apoya, Chief Executive Officer of SkyFox Limited, on Tuesday called for the urgent development of a Community-level Traditional Authority–Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDA) Sanitation Compact.

Mr Apoya argues that Ghana cannot achieve and sustain Open Defecation-Free status without institutionalising the role of chiefs in local sanitation governance.

He considers sanitation not only an infrastructure challenge but also a social one that requires formal collaboration between traditional authority and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

The Local Level Sanitation Compact must be a structured, written agreement between a community’s traditional authority and the local MMDA, Mr Apoya stated.

Mr Apoya stated during the discussion on the role of traditional authorities in the realisation of President John Dramani Mahama’s directives, making sanitation a key performance indicator for MMDCEs.

The Media Coalition Against Open Defecation (M-CODe), as part of its nationwide accountability activation to track how Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) are delivering on the government's new directive making sanitation a Key Performance Indicator, has identified the role of traditional authorities and religious leaders as key for the realisation of directives.

M-CODe, with support from World Vision Ghana, has rolled out a one-week regional accountability activation from July 20th to 25th to independently track how MMDCEs are delivering on the government's new directive to make sanitation a Key Performance Indicator.

Under the theme "Institutionalising Sanitation Performance", the exercise marks the first phase of M-CODE’s revitalisation agenda and positions the media as the accountability bridge between government, traditional authorities, local assemblies, and citizens in the push to achieve a clean environment and end open defecation.

The One-Week Regional Accountability Framework has been tailored to regional governance structures to maximise impact, as teams will assess budget allocation, infrastructure delivery, enforcement of by-laws, community sensitisation, and coordination between assemblies and religious and traditional authorities.

The first phase of the projects covers Upper East, Northern, Western, Greater Accra, Upper West, and Ashanti.

Mr Apoya said the compact should set out clear roles, responsibilities and the dividing line between social sanction, which communities already respect, and statutory enforcement, which remains the mandate of the assembly.

The intent is to move beyond project-based engagements and personality-driven arrangements. Instead, the compact creates a permanent working relationship where traditional leaders mobilise norms and community compliance, while MMDAs provide technical, legal and financial support.

“Sanitation outcomes are ultimately social outcomes, and social sanction is the enforcement mechanism traditional authorities already control and communities already respect,” Mr Apoya, the sanitation expert, said.

The SkyFox Limited Chief Executive stressed that “Formally integrating chiefs, tendaanas and clan heads does not replace the MMDA’s statutory role. It supplies the social enforcement layer that statutory systems alone cannot reach.”

To make the partnership durable, Mr Apoya recommended three core instruments: that compact should define roles, decision-making, and the boundary between community sanctions and the assembly’s legal powers.

It should also consider a seat for traditional authority on district WASH subcommittees. This ensures chiefs and clan heads participate directly in planning, budgeting and oversight, rather than being consulted only during campaigns.

The compact should also establish joint verification protocols for ODF certification and fund reconciliation. Traditional authorities and MMDA officials would conduct joint inspections and jointly validate ODF declarations and expenditure reports.

Mr Apoya stresses that compacts must be signed with the stool, skin or clan office, not with an individual, to survive succession disputes and leadership transitions.

The Sanitation Expert also cautioned that safeguards are critical to prevent misuse, adding that social sanctions must respect due process and basic human rights while financial controls, including MMDA audit access, must apply to any traditional-authority-anchored funds to prevent elite capture.

He noted that the purpose is to strengthen accountability while leveraging the legitimacy traditional institutions hold in communities.

Mr Apoya said the M-CODe and World Vision Ghana accountability week provides the right moment for assemblies to report on partnerships with traditional authorities, not only on the number of latrines constructed.

He urged government, development partners and the media to treat traditional authority engagement as a core performance metric for MMDCEs.

“Until we measure how well assemblies institutionalise work with traditional authority, we will continue to see facilities built but not used, and gains reversed after projects end,” he said.

The sanitation expert argued that with the compact in place, Ghana can scale ODF status and sustain it by aligning customary authority with statutory systems to deliver both compliance and services at the community level.

Mr Apoya, therefore, commended M-CODe and World Vision Ghana for the media accountability initiative and stressed that it should be sustained beyond the one week.

He reiterated that the fastest pathway to Open Defecation Free (ODF) status is to formally integrate chiefs and clan heads into WASH governance, financing, and bylaw enforcement.

Mr Yaw Attah Arhin, WASH Technical Specialist at World Vision Ghana, said this media-led accountability week ensures that commitments translate into measurable results for the most vulnerable communities.

Mr Attah Arhin stressed that the week is designed to deliver three immediate outcomes: increased public awareness that sanitation is now a measurable MMDCE performance metric, not a discretionary activity.

Mr Francis Ameyibor, M-CODe National Convenor, appealed to state and non-state actors, development partners, media outlets, traditional and religious leaders, environmental service providers, and the general public to support M-CODe with funds and logistics to ensure the success of the project in the best interest of everyone living in Ghana.

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