The project aims to improve water and sanitation in the area.

According to the Club, a survey of the community revealed that the school, with approximately 900 students, and the community faced significant challenges with toilet facilities and access to clean water.

The Rotary Club of Kumasi utilized global grants to support the community.

During the commissioning ceremony at Brofoyedu Primary School, the President of the Rotary Club of Kumasi, Rotarian Emmanuel Obeng, urged the community to take good care of the project to ensure its longevity.

He stated that the Club’s goal is to support vulnerable communities with developmental projects, adding that this is part of their ongoing efforts.

The headmaster of Brofoyedu Primary School, Joseph Owusu Bediako, expressed gratitude to the Rotary Club of Kumasi for the timely project.

He noted that before the commissioning, teachers and students often rushed to town to use toilet facilities or fetch water, negatively impacting teaching and learning.

Source: Joseph Obeng

The facilities were handed over during a brief ceremony aimed at improving hygiene and supporting teaching and learning in the school.

Speaking to Adom News after the event, Headmistress Beatrice Kyei expressed her gratitude, describing the donation as timely and life-changing.

According to her, the school had been grappling with acute water shortage and inadequate sanitation facilities for years, which often affected student attendance.

“With these boreholes and toilets, we’ve seen a reduction in absenteeism. This is truly an answered prayer, and we’re grateful to Akoraa Ohemeng for making this possible,” she said.

However, Madam Kyei appealed for further support, particularly in the construction of teachers’ bungalows and an assembly hall, which she said were the school’s most pressing needs.

District Chief Executive of Adansi North, Charles Kofi Ogbeh, also known as Sir Charles, acknowledged the challenges of limited funding from central government and commended the donor for stepping in.

He revealed that his office had already submitted requests to the GETFund for the construction of an assembly hall and other key infrastructure projects at the school.

ALSO

]]> https://www.adomonline.com/stop-charging-washroom-fees-in-hospitals-ghana-health-service-to-directors/ Sun, 20 Apr 2025 12:49:17 +0000 https://www.adomonline.com/?p=2526966 The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has issued a directive banning the collection of fees for the use of washrooms in all its health facilities.

The move, which takes immediate effect, is aimed at safeguarding patient dignity and improving public health standards.

The directive follows growing public concern over reports that some hospitals and clinics were charging patients and visitors between GH¢0.50 and GH¢2 to access washrooms — a practice the GHS now describes as exploitative and inappropriate within a healthcare setting.

In a circular dated April 16, 2025, and signed by Acting Director-General Prof. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, all Regional Directors have been instructed to ensure the immediate cessation of these charges. The circular warned that failure to comply would attract sanctions against the heads of non-compliant facilities.

“The washrooms must at all times be kept clean and comfortable to prevent the risk of infection, improve perception of patient care quality, and increase patient satisfaction,” the circular stated.

The GHS further directed Regional Directors to ensure full enforcement of the directive and notify all heads of facilities for strict compliance.

Beyond ethical considerations, the Service stressed that clean and accessible washrooms are essential for maintaining hygiene, preventing infections, and promoting public health.

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It might seem a harmless way to pass the time when you’re going number two. However, experts warn that what they call prolonged sitting on the toilet can harm your health. It’s even been connected to an increased risk of hemorrhoids and weakened pelvic muscles, said Dr. Lai Xue, a colorectal surgeon at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

“When patients present to me with complaints, one of the main areas we have to delve deeply into is spending a lot of time on the toilet,” Xue said.

Here’s what is going on when you overstay your toilet time.

Potty problems from sitting too long

People should spend an average of five to 10 minutes on the john, according to Dr. Farah Monzur, an assistant professor of medicine and director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Stony Brook Medicine on Long Island, New York.

Why is it a problem if you stay longer? First, here’s a short physics lesson. Gravity keeps us grounded on Earth, but that same gravity also forces the body to work harder to pump blood back up to the heart, Xue said.

The open oval-shaped toilet seat compresses the buttocks, keeping the rectum in a lower position than if you were sitting on the couch. With gravity pulling the lower half of the body down, the increased pressure affects your blood circulation.

“It becomes a one-way value where blood enters, but blood really can’t go back,” Xue said.

As a result, the veins and blood vessels surrounding the anus and lower rectum become enlarged and engorged with blood, increasing the risk of hemorrhoids.

Don’t force it either

Forced straining can also increase the pressure to allow hemorrhoids to build. People scrolling on their phones on the toilet tend to lose track of time, Monzur said, sitting and straining their muscles to get a bowel movement out.

And guess what? Your doctors can tell. “Nowadays, we’re seeing an increase in people passing more time on the toilet, and that is very much unhealthy for the anorectal organs and the pelvic floor,” Xue added.

In addition to weakened anal muscles and forced straining, Monzur said sitting on the toilet bowl for too long can also increase the risk of rectal prolapse. A rectal prolapse is when the rectum, part of the large intestine, slips down and bulges out of the anus.

The pelvic floor muscles are another type of muscle weakened from prolonged toilet sitting. Xue explained that pelvic floor muscles coordinate a significant amount of bowel movement and work with the rest of the body to ensure stool comes out smoothly. The gravitational pressure on the pelvic floor strains the muscles when constantly sitting for long periods.

Be more mindful of bathroom time

To avoid spending too much time on the porcelain throne, Dr. Lance Uradomo, an interventional gastroenterologist at City of Hope Orange County in Irvine, California, advised keeping phones, magazines and books out of the bathroom.

“You don’t want to go with the mindset that you will be there for a long time. Because then you’ll want to bring something to keep the mind occupied,” Monzur said. “Make sitting on the toilet bowl as uninteresting as possible.”

If you’re having trouble relieving yourself, Xue advised quitting after 10 minutes. Instead, walk around a bit — since the motion can stimulate gut muscles to produce a bowel movement. Xue also recommended getting hydrated and eating high-fiber foods such as oats and beans to produce regular bowel movements and avoid straining.

Need to know how much? The National Academy of Medicine recommends 2.7 to 3.7 liters of water daily. Additionally, the US Department of Agriculture recommends 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories of food. Xue said that fiber and water soften the stool, making it easier to pass.

Long bathroom times and colorectal cancer

There are situations, however, in which people have to spend an unusual amount of time on the toilet. Constant difficulty or discomfort when passing stool can be a symptom of gastrointestinal issues, such as irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease.

Worsening constipation or a need to sit on the toilet for a long time may also be a sign of cancer. “If a growth inside the colon grows big enough, it can block the flow of your stool, which can cause constipation and bleeding,” Uradomo said.

The American Cancer Society recently reported an increase in colorectal cancer rates among people under age 55 since the mid-1990s, and the nonprofit estimated there would be 106,590 new cases of colon cancer and 46,220 new cases of rectal cancer this year.

In Uradomo’s career, he’s recalled more young people talking to him about hemorrhoids and constipation and later being diagnosed with rectal cancer.

If you’ve had these symptoms of constipation or sitting on the toilet for a long time for more than three weeks, Monzur said it might be time to bring your concerns to your doctor. Depending on the severity of the symptoms, your primary care doctor can refer you to a gastroenterologist or a colorectal surgeon for a closer look.

Taking your phone to the toilet is a bad habit that should stop.

The Fire Service Public Relations Officer confirmed that the incident occurred on Sunday, April 21.

He said the service received an emergency call at about 11:00 a.m. that four men had been trapped inside a pit toilet.

According to him, Danjuma was trying to retrieve a cell phone that fell into the pit toilet, when he got trapped.

Subsequently, his son entered the pit toilet to save his father and also got trapped.

“Gaye and Alasan also entered to rescue both men and they also got trapped,” he said.

The service said the first three victims were rescued unconscious, while the fourth victim was rescued alive.

He said all the victims were handed over to Superintendent of Police, and they were conveyed to a Special Hospital for medical attention where doctors on duty confirmed the three dead and one still alive.

The above quotation from Noble Laureate in Literature, Wole Soyinka, sums up the importance of the million-cedi question of where do you respond when nature calls.

Will it be in the bushes, at the beach, the public lavatory or in the comfort of your home? Most Ghanaians also seek answers to it, as only 25.3 per cent of the population had access to improved sanitation that is not shared, says the 2021 Population and Housing Census. 

The report indicates that about 17.7 per cent of Ghanaians still practise open defecation.

For 87-year-old Ex-Sgt K. Afriyie, a resident of Atwima Denkyembuoso in the Ashanti Region, anytime nature posed this question it was double agony for him. There must be someone to carry him at the back like a baby to a public lavatory to empty his bowels.

“My father suffered stroke and cannot walk; anytime he has to visit the toilet, I need to be around to carry him on my back to a public facility. It was so dehumanising but we had no option,” Emmanuel Darko, son of the retired army officer, recounted the experience to the Daily Graphic.

Apart from the stench the father and son had to endure at the unkempt public lavatory, their economic challenges worsened because Mr Darko could not work due to the father’s sedentary condition.

However, ever since they switched to the household lavatory provided under the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) project, the story has changed.

“This new toilet is so tidy and easy to use; so my father uses it on his own. I am able to go to work without thinking about how my father will respond to the call of nature,” Mr Darko stated.

After many years of attending to the call of nature on a pit latrine, Gladys Manu, a kenkey seller, also at Atwima Techiman, has also fallen heads over heels for the GKMA household toilet.

“In the previous house I rented, we used pit latrine which was a death trap. Apart from the offensive smell that emanated from it, I always feared that my children could fall into the pit. 

But there is a GKMA household toilet in my new place. We do not go out to use any pit latrine anymore,” she said.

The experiences of Sgt. Afriyie, Mr Darko and Ms Manu sum up what thousands of people who have had access to improved lavatory and sanitation facilities through the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA-SWP) and its replica, the GKMA project feel.

GAMA-SWP

The GAMA-SWP is a $150-million World Bank grant initiative which started in August, 2014 to support the government’s efforts to increase access to improved sanitation and water supply in the GAMA, with emphasis on low-income communities.

The success of the GAMA-SWP has contributed to improved sanitation situation in the country over the last seven years.  

Within the period, the country has improved access to toilets from 23 per cent to 59.3 per cent.

 “As of 2015, the situation was bad, with access to toilet facilities across the country ranging around 15 per cent, while 60 per cent of the population was using shared toilet facilities, which was not good at all,” the National Coordinator of the project, George Asiedu, said.

“The 2021 PHC figures show that we have come far by increasing access to toilet facilities to 59.3 per cent and reduced the usage of public toilets to 23 per cent. Open defecation also reduced from 8.2 per cent to 6.2 per cent; and this is good,” he added.

 That assertion is supported by the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) which showed that toilet coverage in Ghana had hit 59.3 per cent, with public toilets accounting for 23 per cent, while 17 per cent had no toilets.

George Asiedu (right), National Coordinator of the GAMA-SWP, sharing a point with Daily Graphic’s Timothy Ngnenbe

Components

The project has four components – providing environmental sanitation and water supply services to priority low-income areas of the GAMA; improvement and expansion of the water distribution network in the GAMA; planning, improvement and expansion of GAMA-wide environmental sanitation services; and the institutional strengthening of municipal, metropolitan and national institutions.

The initial target of the project was to construct 19,100 household toilets and extend water connections to 250,000 households in low-income communities by May, 2020.

Under the GAMA-SWP, residents of the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) within GAMA were given the opportunity to acquire a household toilet at 50 per cent subsidy. 

19-seater toilet facilities constructed by GAMA-SWP at the Katamanso Cluster of schools in the Kpone Municipality.

Hence, with as low as GH¢1,100 the beneficiary got the full package of a toilet room, seat, hand wash basin, a biofil digester and a discharge unit (soak-away).

For those who already had their rooms, they got the other items at GH¢600.

Statistics at the GAMA-SWP Secretariat show that at the close of the project in December 2020, 28,541 household toilets were constructed in excess of the 19,100 targeted.

Also, 406 units of institutional toilets were constructed in 250 schools, reaching over 200,000 students.

For the improved water supply component, which was spearheaded by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GCWL), the records show that the project extended water supply services to 10,400 households in low-income communities, exceeding the target to reach 2,500 households.

Following the successful implementation of the GAMA-SWP in Accra, the World Bank gave additional funding of $125 million to extend the project to the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) and add more toilets in GAMA.

Under the additional funding arrangement, 30,000 household toilets are to be provided at GKMA and 12,000 in GAMA by the end of December, 2024.

Some pupils of the Katamanso Cluster of schools in the Kpone Municipality, washing their hands in one of the GAMA toilets.

Success story

When the Daily Graphic contacted the GAMA-SWP Secretariat for updates on the project, it came to light that Sgt. Afriyie and Ms Manu were part of over 405,000 beneficiaries in 50,689 households that had been provided with the facility in low-income communities across GAMA and GKMA. 

Giving a breakdown of the figure, the National Coordinator of the project said 41,337 toilets had been provided in GAMA, while 9,352 had also been provided at GKMA. 

Mr Asiedu explained that with 18 months to the end of the second financing phase, 12,796 household toilets had been produced, thus, exceeding the 12,000 target for that phase.

For GKMA, he said the 9,352 household lavatories constructed so far meant that 20,648 more of those facilities would have to be constructed within 18 months.  

“This is achievable because we are now doing 1,200 toilets per month; so, we hope to achieve this target by the closing date of December 2024,” he added.

Mr Asiedu said apart from household toilets, 471 units of school toilets and sanitation facilities had been provided for schools within GAMA. 

“For GKMA, we are supposed to provide 120 school sanitation and health facilities, but as we speak, we have 129 of them under various stages of completion and expected to be completed by November this year,” he said. 

Mr Asiedu added that a simplified sewerage network comprising 51 kilometres (km) of sewer lines and a new wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 1,800 cubic metres (m3) per day had been completed to serve 4,805 households in Ashaiman. 

In terms of water supply, 282 kilometres of pipelines have been laid under the water component of the project, resulting in the increase in access to sustainable water services to over 420,000 people in 85,000 households in GAMA, the data pointed out.

While commending Ghana for the modest gains made in access to toilet and water under the GAMA-SWP over the last few years, the Global Director for Water Practices at the World Bank Group, Saroj Kumar Jha, called on the country to prioritise local mobilisation of funds to finance water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services.

He said the success story of the GAMA-SWP showed that when the country invested more in the WASH sector, it could utilise the power of water resources to transform social development.

The country last week launched the Ghana water, sanitation and hygiene sector development programme (GWASHSDP).

The 10-year initiative (2021-2030) is to help achieve universal basic WASH services by 2030 in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Six.

The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, said the GAMA-SWP had contributed to improving access to basic water and sanitation services in the country. 

“Currently, the population with access to basic drinking water services has increased from 79 per cent in 2017-2018 to 87.7 per cent in 2021. The population with access to improved toilet facilities, including public toilets, has also increased from 66 per cent to 80.8 per cent within the same period,” she said.  

Ms Dapaah stated that GWASHSDP would help to consolidate the gains made under the GAMA-SWP and rally WASH sector stakeholders towards achieving SDG Six.

She added that the government’s $1.4 billion investment in WASH projects nationwide would extend access to those facilities to at least 5.3 million people.

To ensure that more residents within GKMA get access to household toilets, just like Sgt. Afriyie and Ms Manu, the GAMA-SWP national coordinator said efforts were being made to ramp up the construction of the facilities. 

“Currently, we are getting an average of 1,300 full payments for household toilets on monthly basis at GKMA, but we are able to provide 1,100, leaving a backlog of 200 that has to be moved forward to the next month. We are recruiting more contractors to be able to meet the monthly demand,” Mr Asiedu said.

He added that under the GWASHSDP, a follow-up project was being developed to scale up the toilet projects to other parts of the country to ensure that all citizens had access to improved toilets.

Mr Asiedu called on MMDAs to provide the needed infrastructure for waste disposal, saying “the MMDAs should provide incentives for disposing them”.

She was discovered lying inside one of the toilet bowls by a patron who was attending nature’s call at around 5:00am, Tuesday.

Per a narration from the victim’s son, she was last seen three days ago, but there was no search for her as they suspected she had traveled to Mankessim for her usual trading.

However, they were notified by the alarms of residents who embarked on hours-long effort to rescue her.

It took the combined efforts of the Ghana National Fire Service personnel and the rescuers to drag her out of the pit.

Fire commander, BO3 Augustine Cudjoe told Adom News’ Alfred Amoh they could not fathom how the aged woman plunged into the toilet as the seat is too small to allow entry.

He revealed his personnel had to demolish three adjoining toilet slabs before their rescue mission was successful.

Investigations have since commenced into the matter.

Meanwhile, Yaa Prah was rescued unscathed but weak, and doctors from the Ajumako Hospital have confirmed she is fit.

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Lucy Jones, a trainee flight attendant thought her stomach ache was period pain after feeling unwell back in March.

But while in bed the next morning, the 22-year-old said her tummy “flipped” and she dashed to the loo.

While using the toilet, she said she heard a “crash”, looked down and discovered the baby she didn’t know she was having.

The first-time-mum claims she was terrified as she had no idea she was expecting given she had no symptoms throughout her pregnancy. She added that she took contraception daily and still had her periods.

She also said she had a medical examination when she would have been eight months pregnant and two pregnancy tests came back negative.

She said she worked 70-hour per week, drank often and went clubbing around 15 times throughout her pregnancy, including just three days before she gave birth.

Now that her daughter, Ruby is four months old, Lucy said she’s taken to motherhood like a “duck to water” and wouldn’t change anything for the world.

Lucy, from Bristol, said: “I had no bump, no sickness and had a period every month.

“I had two negative pregnancy tests, because of my new cabin crew job I had to take them for that. I would have been eight months pregnant when I went for my medical and did the pregnancy tests.

“He [the doctor] pressed all down my stomach and body, and he suspected nothing. I was still taking the pill. I took it every day and had been on it for six or seven years.

“I went up one dress size after Christmas and then I went back down again, and I put that down to eating and drinking a lot.”

Lucy claims she received her fit to fly certificate the month before she gave birth.

She said she’d often work long hours as a pub manager and had her last shift just ten days before having Ruby, Daiilystar reports.

Lucy said: “I did a week’s training [for cabin crew] came home for two days and that’s when she magically arrived.”

This is in reaction to an article published in the Herald newspaper, Friday 29th April 2022.

The article titled: “Okoe-Boye, Toilet And Celebration Of Mediocrity” sought to condemn the former Ledzokuku Member of Parliament for commissioning a 20-seater toilet facility at Lekma.

Okoe Boye in a tweet said: “This morning, I had the privilege of commissioning a 20- seater toilet located behind the Lekma Hospital. I financed the project with my MP’s share of the Common Fund. What drives me remains the mission to make the world a better place”.

However, Abdul Razak Bawa, the author of the article wasn’t enthused with the commissioning; asking Okoe Boye not to be “desperate”.

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“I had huge respect for Okoe Boye, but to think that he can also stoop so low to play to the gallery, baffles me. Okoe Boye’s continues embarrassment of the good people Ledzokuku, is akin to the proverbial macabre dance of the absurd, Kings dancing naked in the arena in the self-delusion that they are entertaining the audience. It is nauseating. It makes one puke. It makes one sick. It annoys. It irritates. But it must be tolerated. And it is even necessary.

“Toilet is not a luxury, but a necessity; every household should have a decent toilet, only if laws are allowed to work in this country. The reality is that Okoe Boye is a very damaged and unsellable ware, yet he wants to stage a comeback. His modus operandi is not tidy and certainly not appealing” portions of the article read.

Speaking to this on Peace FM, Okoe Boye said “if you have not queued at a public toilet before when someone commissions one, you will describe it as mediocrity. The first time I used a flush toilet was at Legon Presec; this world…”

Listening to the wording of the article read by the host of the show, Kwami Sefa Kayi, he joked: “you would have helped the nation if you had formed a civil society with your big grammar…if you take this big grammar to places where people have queued to go to nature’s call, you will see what they will do to you.”

Her death was announced on social media by one of her colleagues, to mourn her passing. She also preached on the need to be cautious at all times to avert such an unimaginable tragedy.

“Remembering everything we spoke about yesterday morning makes me find it so hard to believe you’re no more haaaa…. No o Bercy is this really true?
My heart bleeds. Please be very cautious of your home and environment… LCPL Bercy was bitten by a snake in her Water Cistern Toilet. (WC),” the friend of the deceased wrote.

She attached a video of the post-death moments where the live snake was being retrieved from the washroom.

Watch the video below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sabi Radio (@sabiradio)

The victim, Ayuba Tijani, sustained burn injuries on his hand, thighs, and genitals.

This was after he washed parts of his body with the content in one of the ablution cans he picked from the facility.

He narrated his ordeal to Citi News after the incident.

“I attended to nature’s call at the lavatory at the Kumasi Central Market. I picked one Ablution Can and realised there was water in it, so I took it inside. I then washed my private part, only to realise the can did not contain water, but acid.”

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“I screamed upon feeling the pains that attracted people from outside to come in, and I was brought to the hospital. My condition is getting better, but I feel pains due to the burn wounds I sustained in my hand, thighs, and manhood,” he recounted.

Meanwhile, four persons, who are caretakers of the public toilet, have been picked up by police to assist with investigations.

The Ablution Can has also been retrieved by the police as an exhibit.

The babies were found in the early hours of Tuesday at the Nkrankwanta Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) school toilet.

The District Police Commander, DSP Prince Asante Deborah, who confirmed the incident to Adom News‘ Dominic Donyina, said he received a distress call and rushed to the scene.

After several hours of a rescue mission, the babies were found dead when they were retrieved.

With the perpetrator missing in action and the reason behind the act unknown, he added that an investigation is ongoing.

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He, therefore, urged the residents to assist the police with any information that can lead to the arrest of the suspect.

Meanwhile, the Sanitation officer for the area, Daniel Ofusu, says the children have been buried, pending the investigations.

He was said to have felt a “pinch in the area of his genitals” before noticing a five-foot (1.6 metres) snake beneath him in the toilet bowl at his home in the Austrian city of Graz.

The python, a constrictor native to Asia which can grow to a length of nearly 30ft (nine metres), is thought to have found its way into the toilet via the network of drains.

“Shortly after he sat on the toilet the Graz resident – by his own account – felt a ‘pinch’ in the area of his genitals,” the police said in a statement.

The victim needed treatment in the hospital for minor injuries.

Although the snake’s suspected route into the toilet could not be confirmed, it is thought to have escaped from a neighbour’s apartment.

A reptile expert contacted by the emergency services removed the snake from the toilet, cleaned it and returned it to its owner.

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A 24-year-old neighbour, who owns 11 snakes, has been reported to the prosecutors’ office on suspicion of negligently causing bodily harm, the police added.

Reticulated pythons are the world’s largest snakes and do not attack humans by nature. However, they will constrict or bite if they feel threatened or if they mistake something for food.

Due to lack of a toilet facility in the area, the residents have, thus, resorted to using the school’s uncompleted classroom blocks as toilets.

Eric Kwame Agyemang, a teacher of the school, in an interview with Nananom FM’s Dramani, said some of their teachers have refused to teach because of the stench.

“Our classrooms are uncompleted so open defecation is going on nicely here on regular basis, anytime we come in the morning we will find human excreta dotted in the classrooms, it is an eyesore and disheartening to see students in their uniforms trying to clean and scrub the classrooms before they begin classes,” he said.

Madam Martha, who also expressed her frustration over the issue, has refused to use the classroom.

She now teaches the kids under the tree on the compound because of the stench in the classroom.

“Anytime teachers come to school they are greeted with toilet. How on earth can these innocent children be cleaning waste done by others?” she queried.

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She added: “This is really affecting teaching and learning activities, we are going to have a meeting with the community members on this issue and if it continues after the meeting then we do not have any option than to close down the school.

“We will take the teachers away because this thing has been going on for more than a year now so If we close down the school for even a week, the community will sit up.”

Watch the video attached below:

Her brother in-law, @Zun_Noorayne, shared the sad story on Twitter while demanding awareness on dangers and the right first aid in any situation.

According to him, the deceased had gone to the toilet in the early hours of the day to urinate but unknown to her, the snake was inside the WC.

The snake reportedly attacked her immediately she sat to ease herself but she failed to realize it and proceeded with her activities.

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The Twitter user said no hospital could help save her life despite numerous attempts made.

He tweeted, “Today we lost my brother’s wife who was 8 months pregnant due to a snake bite as she went to ease herself in the early morning hours.Please be careful ehen making use of your toilets

Sadly our hospitals couldn’t be of help as some of the hospitals claim that they don’t keep antivenum cuz they hardly use it and it expires, can u inagine the stupidity?

As big as 44 hospital in Kaduna, they said, they had nothing to give her when she was rushed there and the express road in Kaduna that leads to NNPC clinic at Sabo, is in poor condition that lead to the delay and waste of time before they get there…

Our leaders only loot money for their personal needs but the masses mean nothing to them…

Lastly, if my voice could be heard, I’d wish we get more awareness on the dangers surrounding us and the right first aid in any situation and also awareness as how to differentiate snake bite from scorpion and other animals bite

Kwaku Sevordzi Boateng, 45, has pleaded not guilty but the Court, presided over by Mr Ali Baba Abature, thought otherwise.

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The prosecution told the Court that the victim lived with her parents in a house in which the accused person also resided with his wife, who is the victim’s aunt at Tadzewu in the Ketu North District of the Volta Region.

At about 2100 hours on October 2016, the victim went to attend to nature’s call at the pit latrine located behind their house.

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The prosecution said the accused, who saw the victim going to the toilet, hatched a plot and followed up, tiptoed to the toilet, grabbed and pinned the victim to the wall housing the toilet.

The prosecution said the accused then slid victim’s panties to one side and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her and warned her to keep it secret but the victim revealed the ordeal to her parents.

“Ask men who propose to you if they have toilets in their homes before you accept their proposals because beautiful women should not defecate openly”, he said.

“Where will you answer nature’s call if your husband does not have a toilet in his home”, he queried adding, “it will be your contribution to help fight open defecation.”

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Nana Korang was speaking at a town hall meeting organized by the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development through the Information Service Department and the KEEA Municipal Assembly at Elmina.

He said a taskforce has been instituted by the municipality to arrest people who openly defecate on the beaches.

He said open defecation was a problem that the municipality was working to fight, adding that diarrhea disease kills millions of people in Ghana yearly.

Policies

The Central Regional Director of the Information Services Department, Mr Kofi Dei, said government was working hard to remove corrupt practices in the system and to wean itself off the Bretton Woods Institutions such as the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to achieve its transformational agenda.

Own Public Policy

He urged Ghanaians to see that “public policy is public property” and urged Ghanaians to see government policies as their own and work to ensure they were successful.

Forum

The forum called for support for skilled workers and apprentices and a factory that would serve as ready market for their produce.

They also called for improved infrastructure such as access roads to farming sites to help reduce the postharvest losses and organic fertilizers.

Food and Jobs An Information Officer at the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Mr Nicholas Addo who spoke on the planting for food and Jobs said a nation cannot develop without adequate investment in agriculture.

He said 75.29 per cent of the nation’s rural population were involved in agriculture.

Mr Addo said agriculture helped in creating jobs improving livelihoods and ensuring food security and and urged the youth to participate in the planting for food and jobs.

The inmates whose names are yet to be confirmed bolted in the night after a police officer on duty was trying to help them flush the cell’s toilet.

The toilet facility had no direct water source and required at least a bucket of water to push down nature’s call.

While opening the cell to hand over the buck of water, four inmates overpowered the officer and took to their heels. The officer on duty managed to gun down one of them.

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Confirming the incident, Superintendent George Afari Yeboah said the four were expected to be arraigned this week. They have been charged with stealing.

Three of the inmates were part of seven suspects who allegedly stole 17 cows at Yeji. The three were on remand because they failed to meet bail conditions.

The other fugitive is also accused of stealing 11 bunches of plantain.

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Supt. George Yeboah said information has been sent across various police points within and outside the region to help re-arrest the escapees.

The body of the deceased has been deposited at the morgue at the Holy Family Hospital.

Increasing pressure on existing infrastructure at the Senior High School (SHS) level has left more than 1,600 students of the Bimbilla Senior High School in the Northern Region sharing a single toilet facility.

Two hundred and fifty girls tested positive for candidiasis out of 620 recently screened by rights campaign group, ActionAid. The students say the unsanitary conditions in the school are to blame.

Eighteen-year-old Nashiru Safiatu (not her real name) is the Girls’ Prefect for the school. She also tested positive for the candidiasis – a vaginal infection which may cause genital itching, burning, and sometimes a white cheese-like fluid discharge from the vagina.

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Extreme versions of it may even have implications for childbirth in the long term.

“Many of the girls are living with infections. Even me, I know I have white [candidiasis]. Some of the girls even have gonorrhoea and syphilis because of the infections,” she said.

Many of the students, now scared of the consequences of going into the overstretched toilet facility, walk for up to 15 minutes to a bush outside the school to defecate in the open.

The students call the practice, which has now become a part of their daily routine, ‘Long Walk’.

“We call it Long Walk because you have to walk for a long distance before you get there,” said Suriya Atta, a 17-year-old student who was spotted returning from her ‘Long Walk’.

School authorities are afraid the situation may worsen with the next intake of fresh students in September.

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“The toilet has just eight holes for boy and girls. Because of the pressure that is why the children resort to free range…We are hoping that we can get help either for NGOs or from the government,” said Vincent Esoah, the school’s Assistant Headmaster.

Established in 1981, the school, the only public Senior High School in the Nanumba North Municipality is yet to see any major investment in infrastructure apart from the few financed by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA).

The school’s population currently stands at 1,614.

Congestion and its resultant spread of infection is a widespread problem for many Senior High Schools in the Northern Region according to ActionAid which has been working to gather evidence to effect change.

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“This is a widespread problem, especially in this region. We have done some work in schools like Yendi SHS, Zagzugu SHS, Chereponi SHS, Vittin SHS, Tamale Islamic SHS, Savelugu SHS among others and have received similar reports. It’s all because of open defecation,” Esther Boateng, Northern Regional Programs Manager for ActionAid, said.

Infrastructure deficit is one of the key challenges that have bedeviled education Ghana forcing the government to consider adoption of a sandwich school system to control the numbers.

During a town hall meeting last Friday, the MCE, Edward Owusu announced that the assembly will use part of its share of the fund to construct toilets, but the residents disagreed.

They complained that the municipality lacks more important basic infrastructures like motorable roads, potable water, and school; among others.

READ: PHOTO+AUDIO: Gomoa East NDC organizer crashed to death

However, speaking with DAILY GUIDE on phone, the MCE, Edward Owusu, said the decision to build the toilets is a central government one. “It is a directive from the ministry, and officials (coordinators) have come already to make feasibility studies on the projects. We were asked to construct public toilets and three boreholes.”

The Presiding Member for the assembly, Gariba Issah, also agreed with the MCE and explained that residents are not against the projects but what happened was NDC propaganda and they are using a local radio station to achieve that.

He said the decision to construct three toilet facilities at three electoral areas including Ahenfie, New Kokonpee and another area he could not immediately recollect, was based on needs assessment conducted by the assembly. “We do not force decisions on them, the people themselves decide what they want.

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“Some want water, others want feeder roads among others”, he said on the phone.

He, however, could not mention budget the assembly has earmarked for the projects.

Former Goalkeeper of the senior national team, the Black Stars, Sammy Adjei, has debunked rumours that he is a manager of a public toilet at Labadi, a suburb of Accra.

It was reported last year that ‘Barthez’, as he is affectionately called in football circles, is now a manager of a public toilet at Labadi.

The revelation was made by Laryea Kingston, a playing mate of Sammy Adjei, who confirmed the news on Football Legends Night Show on GHOne TV.

RELATED STORY: Goalkeeper Sammy Adjei now manager of a public toilet at Labadi

Laryea, however, added that he was unaware if Adjei was still in the KVIP business.

But speaking on Adom TV’s Sports Programme, ‘Agoro Ne Fom’ on Wednesday, the former goalie denied the claims, saying he has never managed a toilet facility and has not built one.

He wondered why Laryea Kingston who he described as his ‘best friend’ would come up with such fabricated story to tarnish his image.

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“Laryea Kingston is a liar. I have not told him anything about owning a toilet facility. I don’t have a toilet facility and not a manager either. Laryea has really tarnished my image by sitting on TV and defaming me. I was really worried when I heard him on YouTube talking about it.

“Laryea is my friend but I’m very disappointed in him because he failed to ask me before deciding to run to the public and run me down. I know that owning a public toilet is a lucrative business but I want the whole world to know that I haven’t built any toilet”, he said.

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Sammy Adjei played for Accra Hearts Of Oak in the Ghana Premier League before becoming Black Stars’ number one goalkeeper in the early 2000s.

The woman in her 20s had been married for five years, but had been forced to relieve herself in nearby fields.
Indian law only allows divorce in limited circumstances such as domestic violence or proven cruelty.
The woman’s lawyer told the AFP news agency that the judge said forced open defecation was a form of torture.
The court, in the state of Rajasthan, said that women are often forced to wait until dark to travel to the open fields used instead of toilets.
A report carried by the Times of India quoted the court’s judgement as saying: “We spend money on buying tobacco, liquor and mobile phones, but are unwilling to construct toilets to protect the dignity of our family.
“In villages, women have to wait until sunset to answer nature’s call. This is not only physical cruelty but also outraging the modesty of a woman.”
Indian media said the woman had filed for divorce in 2015.
Urination and defecation in open fields is common in parts of rural India. The government has set a goal to provide every household with a toilet by 2019, but the work has been met with some resistance.
Women’s safety and discomfort is a key reason for the investment, as many are forced to travel to the fields during the hours of darkness.
Even where toilets have been built, many do not use them, despite the spread of diseases associated with faeces.
Last year, Unicef estimated that about half the population of India do not use toilets.

The accused Agbo is alleged to have robbed one Stephen Kodjo Ofori and his girlfriend, at Tema Steel Works, of a Nokia, Samsung, and M-horse smart phones worth Ghc70, Ghc130 and Ghc 300 respectively.

The accused and his accomplice, Micheal Agbavi who is at large, are reported to have carried out the attack on April 17, 2017.

But before Rashid could be brought from the holding cell into the court room he had eased himself and smeared the toilet on himself.

Proceedings were halted for about two (2) hours forcing the Judge to abandon the court room while the prosecutor and other officers to put the situation under control.

The case was later recalled as trial judge, Gabriel Mate-Teye continued with proceedings.

The court has since remanded Agbo into police custody and adjourned the case to May 4, 2017, to allow the police pursue and arrest Rashid’s accomplice.

This follows a directive from the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council in February to the Environmental and Sanitation Unit of the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly, to strictly enforce the by-laws on sanitation to help clean the filth in the regional capital and halt open defecation.

The Region per the 2016 CDD and UNICEF league table scored zero per cent in sanitation.

Last week, the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly arraigned two landlords, Douglas Adombire and Ayindoo Richard and charged them for not having toilet facilities in their houses and also failing to construct proper drainage system to dispose of waste water from their houses.

Both Landlords pleaded guilty to the charges and were fined GH¢ 700.00 each or in default serve three months prison term each.

In addition to the fines, the landlords were given 21 days to provide places of convenience in their houses.

The court further fined Sunday Anabire, a donkey meat seller to a fine of GH¢700.00 or serve prison sentence for three months on three counts of selling donkey meat without medical certificate, operating in an unhygienic environment and verbally assaulting Environmental Officers on duty to inspect his work premises.

Anabire before the sentence pleaded guilty to the charges.

Prosecuting, Mr Bornaa Evans of the Municipal Assembly told the court that the Assembly had on a number of occasions warned the two landlords to ensure that they provided toilet facilities in their homes and to clear the stagnant waste water behind their buildings, but they failed to oblige.

In the case of Anabire, the Prosecutor told the court that the convict refused to act on warnings issued by the Assembly to him to operate in hygienic condition and to obtain medical certificate.

The Presiding Judge warned that the court would not hesitate to punish environmental and sanitation offenders.

He indicated that most of the illnesses in Ghana could have been prevented and government could save money pushed to the health sector for other development projects.

There were other three persons with similar offenses who did not show up in court and the court had a bench warrant to cause their arrest.

According to the residents, the stench from the two public toilets was making breathing difficult.

They also lamented the deep cracks developed on the facilities which they said, when not shutdown, could spell disaster for the residents.

Surprisingly one of the toilets is located near the chief’s palace with the other one situated close to the Community Centre in the town.

Both toilets have two sections—male and female—and each can contain at least ten people at a time.

The residents in an interview with Weekend Today blamed the Gomoa East District Assembly (GEDA) for allowing the situation to deteriorate.

A lady, who tried to use one of the toilets during Weekend Today’s visit to the town, took off her dress to prevent the bad smell from getting stuck in her dress.

The Unit Committee Chairman, Mr. Kwame Abass, who acted as the spokesperson for the residents, told Weekend Today that the situation was beyond his control.

“The whole community smells and I think you can even feel it yourself (referring to this reporter),” Abass lamented.

According to him, the issue has become a huge source of worry to the chief and opinion leaders in the area.

He said several appeals made in the past to the GEDA to close down the two facilities have proved futile.

“May be they are waiting for the facilities to collapse and cause disaster before they come and sympathise with the bereaved families as we usually do in this country,” a woman, who mentioned her name as Alice Akua Sey, said.

She blamed residents for their lukewarm attitude towards the collapse of the two toilets.

source: today

Aptly named ‘Full Circle’, the unique beer is made with 100% recycled waste water from the Pure Water demonstration plant in Miramar.

Chief brewer Steve Gonzalez admits being skeptical about using recycled water to make beer and asking for analysis results before even considering it, but says that Full Circle turned out to be one of his best works yet, probably in the top three pale ales he’s ever brewed.

Pat Tiernan, COO of Stone Brewing, says that, despite what people may think, the recycled waste water used to create Full Circle is actually better than what the brewery uses now. Also in the context of California’s long drought, having a reliable alternative to natural water is also a very big deal.

Gonzalez said that the recycled water used to make Full Circle needed only the addition of some salts to be perfect for brewing.

As for the other ingredients, he used three malts and three different hops, including two exotic ones from New Zealand which give the pale ale a tropical note. The chief brewer added that, in contrast with the source of the water used for Full Circle, it is a “very clean tasting beer”.

“[I thought] that it would have an off taste or be something different to it … it’s outstanding,” taster Shane Trussell told KGTV.

“It is fantastic,” San Diego Mayor, Kevin Faulconer, added. “There’s no better way to highlight the purity of this water.”

source: odditycentral

The Minister’s promise follows threats by the World Bank to withdraw support to Ghana if measures are not taken to address Ghana’s sanitation challenges.

The World Bank is reportedly unhappy that many Ghanaians still do not have access to basic sanitary facilities, particularly household toilets.

But speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, the Minister indicated that, government will undertake what he calls a comprehensive programme to deal with these challenges.

“We are putting together a comprehensive programme to address this factor. We are trying to get a toilet in every house. If you have a toilet in every house, along the beach areas, open defecation in all the beaches will not be needed anymore. On the national scale, we are targeting 1 million toilet facilities.”

He admitted that, the problem is rife in Ghana because of the non-enforcement of bye laws, saying “It is true that the laws of the country have not been adhered to.

Bye-laws from the Assembly should have been enforced to ensure that all the houses that are being constructed have got toilets in them.

These are challenges that we are going through and we are going to ensure that we roll this out in a very serious and effective manner.”

The Minister said government will also engage various stakeholders including “young men and women” to ensure that this project is successfully executed.

Filth and Sanitation On the issue of filth and sanitation, he said his outfit is considering restructuring the operations of environmental service providers to address challenges associated with sanitation.

“The structures that exists with some of the environmental service providers, we need to look at that and restructure that so that we can zone in to all the respective corners of Accra and the hinterlands…We will need to also ensure the timely release of funds to facilitate their operations”.

source:citifm