The attitude of successive governments in particular, and Ghanaians as a whole, towards the maintenance or protection of water bodies in the country, if not checked, would plunge Ghana into water crisis by the year 2025.
According to a research conducted by an Afrobarometer team, led by the Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Ghana would be required to use creative solutions to reverse the trend.
Already, experts in the water sector say, to improve the quality of water in the country, there is the need for Ghana, as a country, to reduce pollution, eliminate dumping, and minimise the release of hazardous chemicals, as well as materials into our water bodies.
The Afrobarometer-CDD-Ghana research indicated that water shortages have forced Ghanaians to queue for hours, even after trekking distances in search of water.
The report pointed out that the problem has been compounded by the collective failure of the government and Ghanaians to protect the nation’s water bodies.
The water shortage in the country has already rendered Ghana a water-stressed nation, which, if not checked, could present a potential source of inter-community conflict.
The report stated: “For developing countries like Ghana, providing access to safe water is an important instrument for promoting population health and reducing poverty.
Joseph Kofi Ada, Minister Of Water Resources And Sanitation
“Ghana’s commitment to the various elements of SDG 6 – including achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, improving water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimising the release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater, and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse of water, will require creative solutions from all stakeholders, with the government in the lead, and citizens insisting on protecting their sources of this precious resource,” the report explained.
Afrobarometer, which is a pan-African, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions, and related issues across Africa, conducted six rounds of surveys between 1999 and 2015, and presently seven surveys are under way.
The report noted that “about a quarter (26%) of Ghanaians went without enough clean water, at least, once during the year preceding the survey, including about one in 12 (8%) that experienced water shortages ‘many times’ or ‘always.”
The report continued that the “proportion of citizens going without enough clean water has gradually decreased over the past 15 years, from 42% in 2002 to 26% in 2014.
“Seven out of 10 Ghanaians (70%) live in areas served by piped-water systems, while three out of 10 (30%) do not. Urban residents are almost twice as likely to have access to a piped-water system, as their rural counterparts (89% vs. 47%)
“More than eight out of 10 residents of Greater Accra (86%), Brong Ahafo (84%), Ashanti (84%), and Western (81%) regions have access to piped water, compared to fewer than one in five residents (19%) in the Upper West Region,” it stated.
It explained that while the primary source of water for about 71% of Ghanaians is outside their immediate compound, only one in seven Ghanaians (15%) get their water for use inside their homes.
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