More than 17 thousand residents in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region defecate in bushes, gutters, and open fields.
This is according to data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census.
The data indicated that the Bawku West District had the highest number of people using the above-stated areas as defecation points: 18,901, while the Builsa South District recorded the lowest number: 5,619.
The figures relate only to households in occupied dwelling units, and only for households without toilet facilities, according to the Ghana Statistical Service.
| Builsa South | 5,619 |
|---|---|
| Builsa North Municipal | 9,464 |
| Kasena Nankana Municipal | 16,568 |
| Kasena Nankana West | 13,746 |
| Bolgatanga Municipal | 17,059 |
| Talensi | 13,765 |
| Bolgatanga East | 5,949 |
| Bongo | 17,499 |
| Nabdam | 7,897 |
| Bawku West | 18,901 |
| Binduri | 11,373 |
| Bawku Municipal | 13,578 |
| Garu | 6,645 |
| Tempane | 10,923 |
| Pusiga | 10,639 |
Meanwhile, the prevalence of open defecation in the Upper East Region remains alarming, with current statistics indicating that 68.4% of the population engages in this unhygienic practice.
This figure underscores the urgent need for comprehensive interventions and community-driven solutions to promote toilet usage and eliminate open defecation.
Tackling issues surrounding this on the Daybreak Upper East show on Wednesday, July 3, Juventus Asayuure, a key figure from the regional environmental health unit, shed light on the persistent issue of open defecation in the Upper East Region.
He highlighted several underlying reasons contributing to this concerning practice, which affects a significant portion of the population.
Mr. Asayuure identified the vast lands as a main contributing factor to open defecation in the region. “Key among them is that we have a vast kind of land where people feel ‘instead of putting up a toilet, I’ll rather go into the bush’.”
He explained that some people feel when they put the apparatus list together, the toilet is not part of it. This makes them put up every infrastructure they need as a household and exempt toilet facilities.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Bolgatanga
