By: Joyce kantam Kolamong
The Overlord of Mamprugu, Naa Bohagu Mahami Abdulai Sherigah says every household in the North East Region should make it a priority to construct household toilet.
He has consequently given a three-month ultimatum for all households to construct latrines or risk being prosecuted. According to him, health is wealth and having toilet is dignity.
Therefore, everyone should be concerned about the sanitary condition around them and stop open defecation. The Nayiri made the declaration at the unveiling of the first open defecation free league table in the region at Nalerigu, the capital of the North East region.
Before the creation of the North East region, the sanitation situation, particularly open defecation was a challenging issue. The region had about 300 communities that were open defecation free, with the creation of the region seeing about 126 more communities attaining ODF status. Currently, about 496 communities out of 708 in the North East region have attained open defecation-free status. With the effort of the environmental health unit, the region has achieved 66 percent coverage in terms of basic sanitation.
As part of efforts to encourage and push District Assemblies to put more resources into fighting open defecation, the unit scored and released the first open-defecation free league table in the region. The Nayiri, whose speech was read for him, commended development partners and the Environmental unit for their effort in ending open defecation in the region. He called on the people to embrace the Community-Led Total Sanitation concept for their own wellbeing.
The North East Regional Minister, Yidana Zakaria, said behavioral change is a challenge, therefore for an infant region to achieve 66 percent coverage in terms of stopping open defecation, it must be commended. He said his outfit is duly committed to the CLTS approach and expressed gratitude to the Nayiri for giving every household ultimatum to get a toilet.
The unveiling of the open defecation free league table saw Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri taking
first place, followed by West Mamprusi, Yunyoo-Nasuan, East Mamprusi, Chereponi with Mamprugu-Moagduri district taking the last position.
