Some mothers in rural communities in the Wa West District say access to safe and clean water for domestic use in their communities has been a major challenge.
The mothers who expressed their frustrations in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Mother’s Day, said the difficulty in accessing potable water did not only affect their economic activities but also their children’s upkeep.
Mother’s Day is celebrated annually to honour mothers and maternal figures in society and recognise the significance of maternal love.
The GNA sought to find out what the major challenge of mothers in rural communities was in the discharge of their motherly love, not only to their children but also to their husbands.
Madam Martha Lawrence, a resident of Chogsia, a community in the Meteo Electoral Area, told the GNA that women in that community go through an ordeal to get water for their households.
She said they spent much time at the borehole queuing for water, which in turn affected their economic activity as women in that community were predominately farmers.
At the Tendoma community also in the Wa West District, Madam Gifty Teonzuinyelle, a resident, said the inadequate sources of potable water in the community had negatively impacted her marital life.
“I cannot give birth again because of the issue of water access. I wake up at dawn, leave my husband in bed and look for water.
I do not have enough time for my husband; I spend all my time searching for water. We are going through a lot in this community because of water,” she lamented.
The situation was not different in the Welleteon community also in the Wa West District where Madam Baloyir Ba-Inebe, a resident, said there was only one borehole in that community and women had to wake up as early as 0400 hours to queue for water.
She said the situation sometimes resulted in misunderstanding, not only between husbands and their wives at home but also between the women at the borehole.
“There is always too much pressure on the borehole. As early as 04:00 hours, people will be at the borehole pumping, and they will pump the borehole into the night,” Madam Ba-Inebe added.
The mothers told the GNA that they were unable to engage in any meaningful economic venture because they spent much of their productive hours searching for water.
Meanwhile, access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene has been recognised by the UN as the most basic human need for improved health and well-being.
Goal 6 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which Ghana was a signatory to, sought to ensure access to water and sanitation for all by 2030.
According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census report by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), about 3 per cent of people in rural areas in the Upper West Region relied on unimproved sources of water – dugouts, ponds, lakes, dams, canals, and river/stream.
It meant that for the 3 per cent, accessing safe and clean water for domestic purposes such as cooking and drinking remained a privilege rather than a right.
It was worth noting that achieving that Goal, particularly, target 6.1 which states that “By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all”, would be a mirage unless the government of Ghana makes considerable progress in improving access to clean and safe water at the rural levels.
GNA
CAE/GRB
May 13, 2024
Photo caption: Women fetching from a borehole at Chogsia
