A good doctor will diagnose your health problems based on your symptoms.  They may also try to treat the cause. Unfortunately, they may only treat the symptoms.  Conversely, a good latrine artisan provides you with an incredible mechanism for preventing illness — a toilet.  However, most people under appreciate the role latrine artisans must play in transforming the liquid sanitation challenge; that is, we fail to realize that a critical mass of latrine artisans are a necessary factor in ensuring that everyone in Ghana has access to a safe toilet.  Consequently, the state of the nation’s toilets is abysmal.

Yet, access to safe toilets for everyone is critical for public health.  This is true for urban as well as rural areas.  People living in urban areas sometimes receive support. Think, for example, of the GAMA project, funded by the World Bank.  There is a bias, however, against rural dwellers. They are usually expected to construct their own toilets without any support.  Generally, there are no enforced standards as to what constitutes a safe toilet in the rural context.  Concomitantly, we largely fail to recognize toilet/latrine construction as a skill.

This is a bit of a paradox.  On the one hand, we want to scale up household toilet ownership and we know one challenge across much of the rural countryside is the collapsing of toilets, especially during the rainy season.  On the other hand, we do not take seriously feedback from rural communities that one of the biggest challenge they have in constructing and using toilets is that they do not know how to build sustainable ones that can last. In my experience, the second most common reason given by communities to explain why they do not have a household toilet is that they lack the technical knowledge in building one. To dismiss this as an excuse is too facile. It also begs us to ask, what is the role of the local government authorities?

In engagements with district assemblies regarding water, sanitation, and hygiene I often ask, “How many communities do you intend to facilitate to become open defecation free”?  I also ask, “How many latrine artisans do you have in the district”?   Then I ask, how many latrine artisans you have trained during the last two years”?  More often than not, the response to the last question is none – no one has been trained.   In a few cases, I learn that an NGO or another entity has supported the training of some latrine artisans.  Then I usually ask another question, “If miraculously, everyone in your district who does not have a latrine decided they wanted one in the next month—how many people do you have who can build them to last”?  If we are going to ensure that everyone has access to safe sanitation by 2025, we need a critical mass of good latrine artisans.

For the purpose of analysis, let us assume that the average district has a population of 100,000 persons. Assuming that the average household size is five (5) per family, then that district should have approximately 60,000 household toilets.  Average sanitation coverage in the region with the lowest coverage is currently about 30%.   However, let us be generous and assume a 40% sanitation coverage. So let us imagine that this district now has 8,000 household toilets.  This means that 12,000 households still require toilets/latrines.  Now let us assume that the district has 100 latrine artisans.  (If there is a district that has more than 100 artisans please identify yourself).  For a simple analysis, this means that each latrine artisan will have to construct 120 latrines. Now let us assume it takes a trained latrine artisan 5 working days to complete the construction of a toilet.  This means that it will take 600 days for the total number of latrines to be constructed.

However, this assumes that artisans are working exclusively in this capacity and doing so 365 days a year.  However, in many rural contexts we can anticipate that artisans as well as the general community will be busy farming for at least half of the year, so expectations of construction during this time is largely misplaced.  Therefore, let us assume that we only have ½ a year for toilet construction.

This means that it will take the imaginary district above three years and four months to build the 12,000 toilets, so that everyone has access to a safe toilet. This is a best-case scenario. This figure does not account for the issue of actual demand for toilets or population growth during that time.  In other words, in a perfect world where every household in our district wanted to own and use a toilet, it would take 100 artisan3 ¼ years to provide them.

Latrine artisans are a critical and necessary component of the multifaceted solutions necessary to transform rural sanitation. To be clear, this is not to suggest that more latrine artisans alone can bring lasting change.  There are many other factors to be considered. There are many assumptions here. For instance, in the above scenario we assume that everyone household wants to own and use a household latrine and they are able and willing to allocate resources to construct one.  Yet, we know that for those living with low-incomes, in a context of growing inequality nationally, access to the resources to construct a sustainable toilet is a luxury for many.  It should not come as a surprise that the areas with the highest rates of poverty depth and severity, as well as high levels of inequality, are also the areas with the highest levels of open defecation.  We may assume that if you, the reader, had to choose between using your limited financial resources to pay school fees or to build a toilet, it is possible you could be found in the bushes or on a beach squatting.  In other words, income inequalities and therefore limited incomes are also a limiting factor in efforts to scale-up household sanitation ownership and use.

For everyone in Ghana to have access to safe sanitation, we have to ensure that all those who want to own and use a toilet can get it as soon as possible.  In other words, supply must be ready to satisfy demand.  There is also a need to discuss demand creation, which I will address in a subsequent article. However, now, I want to focus on supply.

For the rights of everyone to safe toilets to be realized, the state as the primary duty bearer must create and enabling environment for supply.  The starting point of supply are latrine artisans.  However, many districts do not know many latrine artisans they have at present.  Many districts do not budget for the training of latrine artisans and they do not ensure that it takes place.  As a result, a most critical element of supply remains underdeveloped.  For this to change, the state has to play the leading role in creating a critical mass of trained and engaged latrine artisans.

At this historical moment when the state of the nation’s toilets is abysmal, a good latrine artisan is more important than a good doctor.  A good latrine artisan provides you with a toilet; with proper and consistent use of the toilet along with appropriate hand and food hygiene you can prevent most faecal oral diseases. An ounce of prevention is still worth more than a pound of cure.  The nation needs more than a million toilets.  Therefore, Ghana needs skilled and committed latrine artisans in the thousands. Ghana needs them now.

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Author: Chaka Uzondu (Ph.D), Policy Manager, WaterAid

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The graduates who were drawn from six municipalities in the Eastern Region, received TVET training in techniques in modern hairdressing, beauty therapy/cosmetology, trending design and fashion, masonry, carpentry, electricals, auto-mechanics, refrigeration, way -side business models, booth spraying and leather works.

They include 98 Hairdressers and Beauticians, 80 Fashion Designers, 14 Masons, 18 Carpenters, 16 Electricians, 17 Auto-mechanics, 13 Refrigerator Technicians, 9 Petty Traders, 6 Sprayers, 9 Barbers and 22 Phlebotomists.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the Executive Secretary of the Council for Technical and Vocational Education Training (COTVET), Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah, who was the special guest of honour applauded the efforts of the graduates for taking the steps to upgrade themselves.

“I am very happy and I applaud all of you who have taken the right steps to upgrade your skills and knowledge. Skills and knowledge is what currently drive all economies, developed, developing and under developed. We recognize the importance of skills across all sectors and this has been emphasized greatly.”

“The informal sector where most apprentices find themselves is a critical part of Ghana’s economy and it contributes over 78 percent. On behalf of COTVET, which is the body that coordinates and oversees TVET and Skills development across the formal and informal sectors, and as the adviser to the Government of Ghana on TVET and Skills development, I congratulate you.”

Dr. Fred Kyei advised them to be innovative and position themselves to benefit from government’s programmes and policies.

“I advise that you continue to improve upon your knowledge and skills to position yourself well to be beneficiaries of Government’s flagship programmes “One District One Factory, One village one Dam and Planting for Food and Jobs as all these programs will need the skills you have acquired here.”

On her part, the Vice Chancellor of Koforidua Technical University, Prof. Mrs Smile Gavua Dzisi, reiterated the university’s mission and vision to be the best Technical Institution in Africa.

“In the developing world, the informal sector of the economy remains a force to reckon with. The statistics show that about 80 percent of the Ghanaian work force is found in the informal sector, this is because the sector provides more employment opportunities than the formal sector, but unfortunately the informal sector is also characterized by high income insecurity, underemployment, bad working conditions and low self-esteem”

“It is against this background that Koforidua Technical University as part of its community outreach strategy, established the Department of Informal sector through this department, and in accordance with section 3 (1) F of the Technical Universities Act of 2016, the university seeks to equip and empower artisans in order to help transform their economic fortunes and make education accessible to all.”

Prof Smile Dzisi further stated that, the university will continue to collaborate with other relevant stakeholders to ensure students who graduate from the university are well equipped with skills and technical knowledge to be entrepreneurs.

“Since 2012, the Informal Sector Department of our university has trained over three thousand (3,000) professionals from the informal sector, and in order for Koforidua Technical University to improve upon the training of the artisans, the university seeks to collaborate with its key stakeholders such as COTVET to ensure that the certification of subsequent programmes will be issued in sync with the National TVET Qualifications framework that emphasizes the use of competency based training emphasizes skills acquisition that makes one (work-ready) for the world of work and industry.”

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By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Some lost their lifetime assets. Others could not withstand the pain brought upon them. But till date, the site from where they were ejected is a “Jubilee Forest Reserve” sitting in the middle of Takoradi.

To understand how a fully occupied site for garages became a “forest reserve”, let go back into time.

Former president John Mahama had won the 2012 elections amidst controversy. The matter was sent to the Supreme Court. Whilst hearing of the case was ongoing in 2013, discussions were underway with the garage’s leadership for a possible relocation of some 2,800 estimated artisans at Tanokrom Kokompe, to make way for a proposed Takoradi Shopping Mall.

The characters involved in the negotiations, at least, as it was made to the public, were former MCE of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly Capt. Rtd Anthony Cudjoe, Peter Obosu of Peekob Constructions (Contractor of the mall), and Kwamina Kwadzie, Secretary of Garages. Later, representatives of Amnesty International came in.

“We will not move”!

Supreme Court ruling on the 2012 election had been announced in August 29th, 2013. Investors could now heave a sigh of relief. Close door negotiations continued till January 2014. Sadly, negotiations hit a deadlock. The artisans had shown at every meeting that they were not going to leave the prime site behind the Takoradi Jubilee Grounds for the Shopping Mall to commence unless a new site fit for their operations is secured.

At about this time, the matter had left the circles of meeting rooms to the one that was fiercely debated on public radio.

50 acres of plot couldn’t convince them

During backroom conversations, some 50 acres of land were secured by the Assembly and Peekob Constructions for the garages to occupy at Kansaworado Mampong, about 10 kilometers north of mainland Takoradi. The land was cleared; electricity and one public toilet were also provided.

However, the artisans rejected the new site on grounds of the distance which could deprive them of customers, coupled with the dusty or slippery nature of the main road during rain or shine.

“Even if your car has no problem, the nature of the road will break it down if you visit the site”, Effia MP, Joseph Cudjoe [in whose constituency were the artisans] said.

The artisans also complained of security of their machinery, as the area was yet to be developed. They also had issues with the land because the Atuabo Gas Processing plant pipeline to Aboadze for power generation was passing through parts of the same land.

Controversy over ownership of the new site

What might have sealed the decision of the artisans not to relocate was the confusion over the ownership of the over 50 acres of land that they were to relocate to. One family told me in an interview in the heat of the debate that “the land belongs to the Agona Anona Family at Mampong. Any one [Referring to the artisans] who will dare go to occupy the land for their work, we have the right to stop them”.

Another Family at Kansaworado; Sikaduase Eburaze, also stated in unequivocal terms that “the land on which the artisans are going to be sent belong to us”.

Whist at it, another family elder at Sekondi also mentioned in an interview on Skyy Power FM that “our portion of the land is 49.50 [acres], the greatest land!”

Before this brouhaha, the family Elder from Sekondi had said that “He [Peter Obosu – the contractor of the project] had spoken to us about his intent to acquire the land but he has not paid for it. Same day at same time at Skyy Power Fm, Mr. Obosu had said that “we had also paid half of it to the other side”. It was very confusing!

Court Order

The controversy was gaining momentum. Not a single day passed without discussions of the matter on radio stations in the Sekondi-Takoradi.
News was finally served by the MCE, Capt. Rtd Anthony Cudjoe, that the Sekondi High Court has ordered him “to ensure vacant possession of the land” which the artisans had occupied for decades. The order meant that, if the artisans fail to relocate, some security forces had to be used to forcefully eject them.

Police/Military Eviction [7th February 2014]

On that fateful 7th February 2014, you would have burst into tears if you were to see women weeping in their numbers when they looked helplessly whilst their investments were razed by excavators under the supervision of military and police force.

One woman who was crying out loud told journalists that “I give out male jeans and store shirts on credit to the artisans. I’ve gone for loan from Dream Financial Microfinance. I pay Gh48 daily. Now that the artisans have been dispersed, how can I locate them when this is the only area I know them? This is where I get my daily bread from. My husband is sick. As a result, I have become the head and tail of the house. I am dead already!” she lamented.

Others could not hold back their tears as they fell to the ground to wailing uncontrollably.

In the end, giant containers were overturned, and several vehicle parts were destroyed. Men became boys, and women run for cover. In all, over Gh50 million Ghana cedis worth of goods were estimated to have been taken down.

Artisans stage massive demo

Leadership of the artisans, who had been taken by shock after failing to meet the assembly’s repatriation dates, staged a massive demonstration.

The demonstration was led by the spokesperson for the National Movement for Economic Democracy, Kweku Aboagye Boampong, Assembly Member for Asafo Electoral Area in Sekondi, Sampson K. Nimako, and a host of other personalities.

Clad in red and chanting war songs, the over 500 protesters marched from Takoradi Pipe Ano School Junction through to the Jubilee Park area. They were however stopped by over 20 armed police men from the Rapid Deployment Force.

Tear gas fired, others brutalized, demo route changed

Protesters had wanted to match through some principal streets of Takoradi. They were stopped by the police force. In the midst of the misunderstandings, tear gas was fired to disperse the charged crowd. Some police officers were captured on video brutalizing a female protester.

Eventually, their demonstration was thwarted. Eviction has finally been successful! But wait! Armed Forces and Civil Aviation had issues.

After the exit of the garages, reports also had it that, the Ghana Armed Forces base in Takoradi and the Ghana Aviation Authority, were allegedly kicking against the project on grounds that the mall, when constructed on the 21 acres of land, will impede air traffic due to the proximity of the land to landing flight path to the Takoradi Airport.

The Sekondi-Takoradi MCE, Capt. Rtd Anthony Cudjoe, and a pro NDC group; Sekondi Youth for Development, warned the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and the Ghana Armed Forces that “your interest cannot impede the development of the mall.”

The aftermath [2014-2017]

The people have been ejected. They also refused to go to the Kansaworado Mampong site. Some resorted to working at their backyards, others relocated to as far as Apimanim in the Ahanta West District. They were eventually dispersed.

The love and passion for the story on radio gradually faded away. The dust has settled. The 21 acres of land then occupied by the garages is empty and ready for the $65 million Takoradi Shopping Mall to commence.

Three years of no show

After all that happened, Peter Obosu, who spearheaded the eviction of the artisans, lost the contract. It eventually ended up in court. Project went to a new contractor called WBO, after some foreign investors were said to have partnered another Ghanaian in a consortium.

Today, the site, which once accommodated the garages for many years, has turned into a mini ‘forest’ overgrown with weeds. Some of the artisans are dead, others veered off their trade.

Women who sold to these artisans lost their businesses. Those who gave cloths and other items to some on credit could not trace their whereabouts after the crackdown. The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly also lost the revenues it was generating from these artisans.
The remnants of the then vibrant Tanokrom Kokompe garage, brings back bad dreams to passers-by daily.

To the living evictees, the “forest” is a sad end to a once vibrant market.

To those who followed the eviction, the remnant of the then Tanokrom Kokompe is a tragedy of leadership and an endorsement of the survival of the fittest.

I pray that the Takoradi Shopping Mall comes off one day to wipe the tears of all silent wailers.
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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana
E-mail: [email protected]

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Posting on his Facebook wall Monday, Mr Cudjoe, described Shatta Wale as a “great music strategist” who had “been sidelined by the Ghanaian media for 11 years.”

The policy analyst and public commentator described claims that Shatta Wale did not deserve to win the award as “unsophisticated” and without merit.

According to him, Shatta Wale had worked hard in Jamaica for five years, “learning the ways of great dance hall musicians”.

Mr Cudjoe said the self-acclaimed “Dancehall King” had not only rebranded himself, but had also started a movement – Shatta Movement – which had attracted many converts in Ghana .

“Pompous Marketing executives and religious hypocrites should take time to study how Shatta Wale made it,” the Imani boss said, noting: “The UK Guardian newspaper has marked Shatta Wale for global impact soon and in his own land hypocrites are bringing him down as usual.

“Let’s promote this guy,” he added.

Though there have been some sentiments on social media to the effect that Shatta Wale’s ‘Artiste of the Year’ feat was undeserved, there is general consensus among music lovers that the dancehall star deserved the award for a successful 2013 in which he released hit songs such as ‘Enter the net’, ‘Dancehall King’ and ‘Like My Thing’.

It didn’t come as a surprise to many, therefore, when ‘Dancehall King’ won ‘Song of the Year’ at the awards. He also picked the ‘Dancehall/Reggae Song of the Year’ award, taking his total haul on the night to three.

Controversy was, however, generated when Shatta Wale did not show up to pick up the awards.

Enthusiastic fans, who had attended the event to celebrate with the talented artiste, were upset that he did not attend.

But he Monday explained that he stayed away from the show in protest at the unfair treatment of Ghanaian artistes by the organisers, Charter House.

He said Ghanaian artistes had not been given the respect and recognition that they deserved.

According to him, Charter House refused to pay the Gh₵70,000 he demanded as fee for performing at the show, but would have been willing to spend thousands of dollars on artistes from other countries.

Source: Graphic Online

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