Ghanaians who defecate in the open must be caned, a government official said on Thursday, blaming such behaviour for the rapid spread of cholera in Ghana’s capital Accra.
The deputy minister of local government and rural development, Nii Lantey Vanderpuije, said it is embarrassing for the sprawling city to grapple with the disease that has hit Accra due to poor sanitation.
Cholera has killed more than 40 people in Accra since June and infected 3,100 others, according to the Ghana Health Service.
The coastal areas of the cosmopolitan city of Accra – La, James Town, Ledzokuku and Mamprobi - are the worst hit due to poor sanitation practices. Open defecation along the sea shore which forms part of the Gulf of Guinea and choked drainage systems in the communities are fuelling the outbreak that has reached a pandemic state.
The La General Hospital – situated in one of the congested coastal areas - alone has recorded a little over 700 cases with eight deaths since June.
Vanderpuije, who doubles as a Member of Parliament, said it is about time Ghana “provoked some drastic and stringent measures” to nip the gloomy situation in the bud.
Speaking to Radio Ghana, the junior minister mentioned that although he is “a democrat” he feels “corporal punishment” could help salvage the outbreak. “We have to cane people who defecate in public and throw rubbish about,” he noted.
“We must make people responsible for the waste they generate… We need to change our orientation towards waste and ecological management,” Vanderpuije added.
A total of 9,542 cholera cases with 100 deaths were reported in Ghana in 2012, but no deaths occurred in 2013, despite some reported cases of the disease in the former British Colony, according to the Ghana Health Service.
Accra recorded only 14 confirmed and reported cases in 2013.
