Community participation in rural water and sanitation delivery in the Nkoranza North District
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Date
MARCH, 2015
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Abstract
Water is life, for people and for the planet and sanitation is dignity. Target 10 of the Millennium
Development Goal 7 specifically calls for reducing by half the proportion of people without
access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation by 2015. For Ghana to achieve this target
the available water and sanitation facilities needs to be maintained and sustained so that new
ones can be added. To maintain and sustain water and sanitation facilities, direct beneficiaries
and other stakeholders have to be involved actively in the planning, implementation, monitoring
and evaluation.
This called for a study to ascertain the level of community participation in water and sanitation
delivery. The case study approach was adopted and Nkoranza North District offered the study an
opportunity to do an in-depth study. This study therefore employed preliminary investigations,
interviews, and focus group discussions to unravel the extent to which communities were
involved in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of water and sanitation
delivery.
To unravel the situation and achieve the objectives o f the study, certain questions have to be
responded to. The study sought to answer the following questions:
i. What informs the provision of water and sanitation facilities to rural communities?
ii. What are the processes and modes of community participation in the service delivery?
iii. What factors influence community participation in rural water and sanitation delivery?
iv. What is the capacity of assemblies in service delivery?
v. What could be done to enhance community participation in basic infrastructure delivery?
The study revealed that the DA partially involved the beneficiary communities and other
stakeholders in the planning processes, implementation and monitoring of preparation and
implementation of the DWSP. However, the involvement of the stakeholders took the form of
non-participation and tokenism. To improve on the situation, the DCE must be made to sign
performance contract for preparation and implementation of development plans . Also,
community involvement in project planning, implementation, and monitoring has to be expanded
and taken the form of citizens‟ power
Description
Thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science Degree (M.Sc.) in Development Policy and Planning.