The Country Manager for SNV Mr Eric Banye says an Open Defecation Free (ODF) society, is the one with better opportunities for socio-cultural and economic development.

He said when a community is declared ODF, it stood a better chance and opportunity of attracting development to its Health, Education and Agricultural sectors.

Mr Banye said this when he addressed traditional leaders and members of the Nandom District Inter-sectorial Coordinating Committee.

He said it was is quite embarrassing to see people defecating openly in modern times, but praised Nandom for being a shining example with regards to issues concerning Open Defecation in Northern, Upper West and Upper East Regions.

Nandom District was ranked 7th in the 2017 Ghana League Table. This according to Mr. Banye the attainment of 91 per cent ODF by the District, contributed immensely to the impressive performance on the Ghana League Table.

Nandom has in the last two years been consistent with its performance on ODF and had currently moved upwards from 91 per cent to 96 per cent.

Mr. Banye said 84 out of 88 communities in the District have so far attained ODF, and commended the District Assembly, particularly the District Chief Executive, Traditional Leaders and Assembly Members and other stakeholders for their contribution and support.

On his part, the District Chief Executive for Nandom, Mr Thaddeus Arkum Aasoglengang, expressed profound gratitude to SNV for their technical and financial support to the project.

He said SNV has been the cornerstone of the success stories from Nandom.

Mr. Aasoglengang said behavioural change was a very difficult phenomenon to achieve and said though the project ended in September 2018, SNV took an administrative decision to ensure that Nandom attains 100 per cent ODF.

He said bylaws would be enacted to ensure that people did not slip into defecating openly again.

A member of the Nandom Traditional Council, Ko Naa, Naa Domepeeh Gyere III, said the gains made by Nandom in the area of Open Defecation Free, must be maintained and guarded against its slippage.

He said the traditional council had on their part, served letters to all traditional leaders, area heads and religious leaders to engage with their people and sensitise them to change their attitudes towards the environment.

The Nandom District Environmental Health Officer Mr. Jerry Sabogu advocated for a continuous training of Natural Leaders in the communities.

“This will help in the continuous and regular monitoring of communities”.