The struggle of rural women for the essential commodity-water in the northern region continues un-abated. Whilst town folks’ once a while get water from the Ghana Water Company, their counterparts in the rural communities’ situation get worsen on daily basis. Rural communities with dams yet to dry struggle with animals for the muddy waters.
In the case of residents of Gbanyamni in the Sagnarigu municipal has attributed their current water crises to the government’s One-Village-One dam program. The contractor who executed 1V-1D the residents say destroyed their only dam and refused to listen to them when they realized that he was destroying their water resource.
The dam which is now like a football field was serving the community and its environs for years now as an alternative pipe borne water. The water crises at Gbanyamni have compelled adults both men and women to sacrifice their bath for cooking and also to enable school children take their bath before going to school.
Many residents in the area say they cannot remember the last time water dropped from their pipes and wonder if they are also in the Sagnarigu municipality.
Majority of residents mainly women say they have never seen and cannot even identify the municipal chief executive for Sagnarigu even if they parade Sagnarigu assembly workers. Many homes in the community according to the residents at times could not cook night meals because of the lack of water.
They have also rubbished the covid safety protocols that requires frequent washing of hands with running water asking why they should adhere to it when they don’t get water.
A gallon of clean water from neighboring communities such as Kanveli is sold as 1Ghc whilst 2 drums is going for 15GHC. This, they say is bringing untold hardship to them. Narrating their ordeals to Zaa News, the Gbanyamni residents blamed the Sagnarigu assembly for their woes, reminding them that access to clean water is their right and that it is the responsibility of the assembly and government to ensure their rights are respected.
At the dried dam site, the residents told Zaa News that, the action of the contractor of the 1V-1D was callous and inhumane because he disrespected the community members when he started the dredging which later was labeled as a new dam in the then ministry special initiative achievements.
They have initiated process through household’s contribution to dredge the dam before rain sets in. The residents’ simple message to the current regional minister and the next MMDCEs in the northern region is that they should prioritized the water sector in their respective areas.