Help us stop defecating in the open

Alexander Tetteh attempts to enter the public toilet in Nima, Accra.

Credit: WaterAid

11 January 2010

Ghanaians with disabilities have called on the government to address the lack of accessible toilets in the country. The call was made after Ghanaian dignitaries, including deputy ministers Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah and Dr Hanna Bissiw, visited public toilets at Nima, an urban slum in Accra, for World Toilet Day.

Alexander Tetteh, Executive Director of the Centre for Employment of Persons with Disability who is himself disabled, also attempted to enter the toilet and could not do so without assistance. The toilets had no wheelchair ramps or seats and only provided squat holes, evidence of the daily obstacles faced by people with disabilities.

"I am struggling to enter this public toilet... the message about stopping open defecation will be meaningless to a person with disability if the toilets are not accessible. If you don't have a toilet at home, you cannot access a public toilet. These designs are not disability friendly," Mr Tetteh lamented.

World Toilet Day 2009 was celebrated in Nima, Accra, under the theme 'Stop open defecation, use toilets'. WaterAid Ghana collaborated with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to host an event highlighting the state of sanitation in Ghana as part of the End Water Poverty Campaign.

Mr Afriyie-Ankrah, Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, condemned over-reliance on public toilets in Ghana. Primarily built to cater for transient populations public toilets have been taken over by communities due to a lack of toilet facilities in their homes. Quoting the latest official statistics from the Joint Monitoring Platform (JMP), Mr Afriyie-Ankrah explained that Ghana’s sanitation coverage stands at 11% at the end of 2008, which reflects a national sanitation crisis.

After a brief ceremony to launch the national celebrations the Minister joined pupils of Saint Kizito Junior High School in a symbolic queue-for-toilet, a gesture of the everyday struggles of those living without sanitation in their homes.

Statistics on Open defecation in Ghana
Around 20% of Ghanaians defecate in drains, fields, streams and in the bush and the beaches. With current population estimates for Ghana being 22 million, this implies that approximately 4.4 million people practice open defecation.