Open Defecation Must End To Honour Nkrumah

The Media Coalition against Open Defecation (M-CODe) Friday said a worthy way to commemorate Founder's Day is for Ghanaians to commit to the crusade to end Open defecation, which threatens the health and safety of all.

It also urged the Government to provide a national roadmap for the eradication of the undignified practice at every administrative level, with the enforcement of bylaws by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) towards this national campaign.

In a statement, copied to the Ghana News Agency, in Accra, the Coalition said Kwame Nkrumah would be disappointed in Ghanaians if he were to see or feel the way sanitation was being been managed, in general, especially, that his 'beloved Ghana' had been ranked among the League of filthy countries, 61 years after his toil to make her one of the most attractive countries in Africa.

It was, however, optimistic it said, that if more investments were made in improving sanitation facilities, Ghana could achieve the universal access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation even before 2025,.

The Coalition also called for the establishment of a budget line for eradication of open defecation in annual budgets that would synch with the said national road map.

Open defecation, it emphasised, was the main reason Ghana was still recording cholera outbreaks and a lot of diarrhoeal deaths amongst children and adults.

'It is estimated that one out of every five Ghanaians defecate outside a toilet each day, representing close to six million people, who engage in open defecation.

'Experts have indicated that the practice costs Ghana $79million annually (excluding cost of funerals, single parenthood, widows and orphans).

'Apart from the practice being an enemy to tourism, it is also the cause of many preventable illnesses like typhoid, malnutrition and stunted growth in children'.