Assemblies prevented from providing water - WaterAid

Ghanaian district assemblies are not able to control water supply to their communities because they have no spending power, according to a report by WaterAid released prior to the United Nations (UN) World Water Day, which is being marked today.

"Decentralisation of service provision to local government in Ghana has not been coupled with the decentralisation of funds, leaving district assemblies disempowered and unable to set their own agenda on water on sanitation," according to the report titled Keeping Promises: Why African Leaders Need Now to Deliver on their Past Water and Sanitation Commitments.

The report reveals that bureaucracy also hinders agencies from providing water services to small, rural towns and villages.

In the report, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) in Ghana highlighted difficulties in project approval and release of funding from donors.

The report - which covered Ghana, Niger, Rwanda Sierra Leone and Uganda - calls for governments and donors to take action on providing communities with clean, safe water.

In Ghana, many communities do not have access to water, even in the country's major cities where some areas have not seen water flow freely for up to 20 years even though the underground pipeworks are in place to provide it.

Last month it was revealed that expired water purification chemicals were supplied to the Weija water treatment plant while another reports published this month highlighted the pollution of water bodies as a main hindrance in the provision of safe, clean water.

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