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General News for Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Source: GNA
2020-05-05
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The Media Coalition Against Open Defecation (M-CODe) has unequivocally condemned individuals related to the attacks on the Queen Mother of Sakumono Village for their efforts to stop open defecation in the area.
M-CODe, in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency, backed law enforcement agencies to deal with anyone found guilty of the act.
“For young people in a community attacking their Queen Mother or anyone who is simply fighting open defecation to protect everyone in the community from preventable diseases is unthinkable in the 21st century,” he said.
The Coalition praised the Queen Mother for her interest in fighting open defecation, although it was unclear how she reacted to the practice of open defecation to guarantee this form of attack.
In the Coalition’s view, traditional leaders have a critical role to play in ensuring that their communities are free from defecation.
“The Coalition wants the youth of the village of Sakumono and, by extension, the youth of Ghana to bear in mind that in this country, no one has the right to defecate in the jungle, in drains, in open spaces, on the beach or anywhere else except in a bathroom.
“Everyone should also know that the provision of toilets in homes is not the responsibility of the government, and that the government has every reason to arrest, prosecute and punish the owner of any home without a toilet,” the statement said.
M-CODe warned any influential personalities to try to interfere with prosecution processes to desist from that attitude and allow the law to work.
In situations like this, M-CODe believed that it was very common for some political, religious, traditional and other influential personalities to declare themselves on behalf of some of the suspects for release by the authorities.
This practice, he said, only promotes illegality in the country and contributes to making Ghana a dangerous place to live.
“This is the time when tenants and homeowners without restrooms should sit together to come up with a plan to build a restroom and stop open defecation immediately,” he advised.
Open defecation, according to the statement, kills some 19,000 people in Ghana through various infections and costs Ghana more than GH ¢ 400,000 each year.
The Media Coalition Against Open Defecation (M-CODe) is an inter-agency effort to fight open defecation in any form and promote the use of domestic toilets in Ghana.
Open defecation is the cause of most preventable OPD cases in the country and the leading cause of cholera, typhoid and many other diarrheal diseases.
As a society, open defecation also affects the dignity of Ghanaians as decent people and can also affect the potential profits of tourism, according to the statement.
Formed in September 2018, M-CODe has partnered with like-minded institutions to step up advocacy against open defecation in Ghana.
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