Farming community in Zabzugu fines offenders GH¢10, fowl for open defecation

As part of measures to stop open defecation at Kpajodo, a notable farming community in the, Zabzugu District of the Northern Region, elders have announced that offenders will be required to pay GH¢10 and a cock as punishment for the act.

 

The move is aimed at encouraging residents to own toilets in their homes and not resort to defecating in the open which has health implications.

Chief of Kpajodo, Kpajodo Bilambim who spoke on what necessitated the latest decision by he and his cabinet, disclosed that it is meant to curtail the growing trend of open defecation and to ensure a sanitary environment.
“Initially, we instructed every household to build a toilet and everybody complied.  And since every house now has a toilet, we directed that whoever is caught defecating in the open will have to face our collective wrath”, the chief revealed to drumbeatsgh.com

 “Whoever knows he has money and a hencoop full of fowls can continue to do it in the open. As long as I remain the chief of this community, the decision will stay”, he further cautioned.
Meanwhile, a 5-member committee comprising three men and two women has been constituted to ensure that community members obey the latest directive.

 According to UNICEF Ghana, the national average of Ghanaians who do not have access to any Sanitation facility including household latrines stands at 22.9% and only 15% use improved unshared sanitation facilities.
Ghana will achieve its target of a national open defecation free (ODF) status through its rural sanitation model and strategy (RSMS) approach, says the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.
Currently, access to improved sanitation is only 15 per cent having increased by seven per cent since 1990, implying that nearly one out of four households (22.9 per cent) practice open defecation or have no toilet facility with significant disparity evidence between the rich (one per cent) and poor (67 per cent).
Similarly, the practice of hand washing with soap is also low in the country with only 24 per cent of households having hand washing facilities and only half of those with soap and water on location.

Source: MyNewGh.com/Stephen Zoure/2018.