In Ghana the Second Water Citizens National Forum
Deriving full benefits of Citizens’ Participation to improve Services
In 2014 COSPE and ISODEC began the implementation of the Water Citizens Project in the three Nzema areas of the Western Region of Ghana with support from the European Union. The objective of the intervention is centered on empowering CBOs and CSOs on water access rights to enable citizen groups to hold Local Government Officials responsible for access to quality water and sanitation service delivery.
The project focused its efforts on capacity building, networking and advocacy in order to take advantage of the decentralization system and the local government regimes in Ghana to facilitate participation of citizen groups in WATSAN governance at the local level.
The project is being implemented in the Nzema East Municipal Assembly, the Jomoro District Assembly and the Ellembelle District Assembly. Lessons learned from the project have been used for national level advocacy for the improvement of project activities for the intended project goal.
Ghana, like many West African nations has been implementing a decentralization program since the 1990’s, with the aim of drawing governance closer to citizens. A lot has been achieved in this direction whilst there remains a lot which require action for ordinary people to be able to influence means through which key social services are made available in their districts. The local government system now, is inadequate because the chief essence and benefit of its establishment; i.e. control over local resources and service by local people at the local level is yet to be realized. At least, as we found in the implementation of the Water Citizens Project in the respective project districts, this has not been achieved for WATSAN services.
Most districts in Ghana have populations who rely on both urban and rural water service provision. It was this mixed reliance that existed in the three project districts. The urban parts of the districts rely on Ghana Water Company Limited for services whilst the rural parts rely on the Community Water and Sanitation Agency. The Ghana Water Company Limited has district offices whilst the CWSA is not directly present in the districts but present at the regional level. Both agencies have centralized structures which obligate them to report to, and to receive directions from their respective head offices in the capital in Accra. The local governments therefore have little influence on the agencies existing within their jurisdiction. Except that even CSWA per their structure do not directly exist in the districts. Due to this situation, structures such as WATSAN Committees, Water Boards and DWSTs established in the districts hang mostly around the local governments and are without the resources or the required control and influence over the agencies which plan and hold the purse for the sector.
The Forum has allowed to facilitate the exchange among and discuss about the decentralization programme in Ghana vis-à-vis water and sanitation services delivery. The forum has documented and shared ideas on possible means of realizing functional participation in WATSAN governance in view of the prevailing challenges. The forum has been also the occasion to create a network of sector actors who are motivated to become champions of this cause for post-forum follow ups.
