Ghanaians get GH¢37 a year for water, toilet

Have you ever tried to imagine how much money you would receive if government were to distribute its budgeted revenue to individuals rather than institutions – Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs?
Well, save yourself the hustle. The Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation, CONIWAS, has worked out the figures for you.  Here is the shocker! Your share of funds allocated for water, sanitation and hygiene in the national budget for the whole of this year is approximately GH¢37 (equivalent of $10.1 at Tuesday’s dollar rate of $1 to GH¢3.67 published by Bank of Ghana).  Government has budgeted a total of GH¢984.55 million for the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, MWRWH, and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, MLGRD, which are the two ministries directly responsible for water, sanitation and hygiene, WASH.

In an analysis of the budgetary allocations, CONIWAS has concluded that every Ghanaian will receive GH¢36.94 if the combined budgets of the MWRWH and MLGRD were disaggregated and shared among the population.

CONIWAS shared these insights in Accra last week at the latest edition of its budget advocacy series, an initiative supported by WaterAid Ghana, WAG, and the European Union, EU.

Break down

The MWRWH is receiving a total of GH¢733.49 million while the MLGRD is expecting GH¢290.98 over 2015.

“The per capita expenditure for the WASH Sector Ministries is “GHc36.94 in 2015. The per capita expenditure by MWRWH is GHc26.02 and by MLGRD is GHc10.92,”according to Ben Arthur, Executive Secretary at CONIWAS.

Put differently, government has made available GH¢36.94 as per capita spending to make sure water reaches you as well as enable you safely dispose of your garbage and toilet throughout 2015. The amount also includes how much government will be spending on your behalf to pay workers in the two ministries, departments and agencies.

In CONIWAS’s view, the funds are woefully inadequate, especially when juxtaposed with allocations for the Education and Health ministries. “There is a lag in resources investment needs of the WASH Sector,” Arthur observed, diagnosing that “This would affect the delivery of WASH Services to the population.”

He then juxtaposed that “The Per Capita Expenditure for WASH Sector Ministries of GHc36.94…is very low as compared to that of Health and Education Ministries,” which are GH¢219.08 and GH¢517, respectively.

But CONIWAS’ contention is not just a matter of how the ministries budgets compare but one of insufficient demonstration of prioritisation skills on the part of decision makers.

One reason is that “Though Ghana has achieved the MDG (Millennium Development Goal) target [of 80%] for water, the level of investment in the 2015 budget will not enable the country deal with inequity in service delivery.”

Even more seriously, “Ghana is off-track the MDG target for basic sanitation and hygiene services delivery” and so “the level of investment in the 2015 Budget Statement would not provide the needed impetus to ‘leap-frog’ to reach the MDG target of 54% by end of 2015.”

Apart from that, CONIWAS argues that water is the fundamental for achieving MDGs1-6. The first six MDGs, in the order in which they are listed by the United Nations, are: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; Achieve universal primary education; Promote gender equality and empower women; Reduce child mortality; Improve maternal health; and Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

“Water, sanitation and hygiene…are well understood to be critical to eradicating poverty, improving health, nutrition, education and gender equality, and enabling economic growth,” Arthur stressed.

Essentially, CONIWAS’ concern is that the allocations to the WASH ministries are inadequate in addressing the financing gaps that exist within the sector. For example, most of the regional and district capitals, urban centres, and other relatively large communities do not have facilities for faecal waste management. Raw toilet is therefore dumped into the sea, water bodies and in the bush.

The ramifications include epidemics such as the worst ever cholera outbreak that has hit Ghana since June 2014.

That outbreak, according to Dr Atsu Seake-Kwawu of Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, the current epidemic swept through all ten regions, affecting the “highest number of persons in the past 30 years within a short period of 6 months.”

Records put infections at 28,975 with 243 deaths.  

Address gaps

In the view of CONIWAS, government must build upon its efforts. Fundamentally, it must recognise “access to safe drinking water and sanitation as a human right” and increase financial resources to facilitate the delivery of improved water supply to the citizenry.