The alleged takeover of government-built public toilets by chiefs in parts of Ghana’s municipalities and metropolitan assemblies is unlawful, the chairman of Parliament’s Select Committee on Sanitation and Water Resources has said.
Oti Kwabena Bless John, the MP for Nkwanta North, said chiefs in Jomoro had taken control of public toilet facilities built by the district assembly and were refusing to account for the income generated.
Speaking to the media after a public hearing in Takoradi on Friday, October 16, he praised Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in the Western Region for finding ways to finance sanitation projects.
The hearing examined how Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) were using the share of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) allocated to sanitation.
“I am impressed with all the presentations and the performance of the MMDCEs. I am impressed,” Oti Kwabena Bless John said.
“But there is still a lot more to do. There is more room for improvement.”
He identified Jomoro as a particular concern, saying the chiefs’ alleged control of the toilets meant the assemblies were losing revenue from facilities built with public money.
“I think that is unlawful because this is government money, the poor taxpayers’ money, and the assemblies generate a lot of income, their revenue from the public toilets,” he said.
The committee chairman questioned how chiefs, who should be key stakeholders in the assemblies, could take over government projects, earn money from them without providing an account and make no payments to the assemblies.
“I think that is unacceptable,” he said.
He called on the chiefs and residents of Jomoro, together with the three Nzema municipal and district assemblies, to resolve the matter.
“The chiefs should begin to either return or hand over the public toilets to the district assembly, to engage other private capable individuals to manage, account and pay the appropriate amount of money to the assembly to run other activities in the district,” he said.
“Or they should begin to do the right thing.”
Oti Kwabena Bless John said he would raise the issue with the Local Government Minister, whose ministry oversees the assemblies.
“This issue is going to be taken on board. I am going to meet the Local Government Minister on this issue. It is unacceptable,” he said.
He added that the committee believed toilet facilities should be placed under the control of the assemblies.
“As a committee, we sense that the toilet project facilities should be handed over to the assemblies. I think these are the only issues. As the chairman of the committee, I think it is very important and an urgent need that we attend to it and deal with the issues,” he said.
The hearing was part of the committee’s oversight work to assess sanitation financing at local level and ensure DACF allocations were used transparently and effectively.
