The Media Coalition against Open Defecation (M-CODe) has condemned in no uncertain terms individuals connected with the attacks on the Queen Mother of Sakumono Village for her 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 anybody found guilty of the act.

“For the youth of a community to attack their Queen Mother or anybody who is simply fighting open defecation to protect everybody in the community from preventable illnesses is unthinkable in the 21st century,” it said.

The Coalition commended the Queen Mother for her interest in fighting open defecation, even as it was unclear the manner in which she reacted to the open defecation practice to warrant this form of attack.

In the opinion of the Coalition, traditional leaders have a critical role to play to ensure that their communities become open defecation-free.

“The Coalition would like the youth of Sakumono Village and by extension the youth of Ghana to note that in this country, nobody has the right to defecate in the bush, in drains, in open spaces, at the beach, or anywhere except in a toilet.

“Everybody should also know that provision of toilets in households is not the responsibility of government, and that government has every reason to arrest, prosecute and punish the landlord of any household without a toilet,” the statement noted.

M-CODe cautioned any influential personality who would attempt to interfere with the prosecution processes to desist from that attitude and allow the law to work.

In situations like this, M-CODe believed it was very usual for some political, religious, traditional and other influential personalities to plead on behalf of some of the suspects in order for the authorities to set them free.

This practice, it said, only promotes lawlessness in the country and contributes to making Ghana a dangerous place to live.

“This is the time that tenants and landlords in houses without toilets should sit together to work out a plan to construct a toilet and stop open defecation immediately,” it advised.

Open defecation, the statement said kills about 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-institutional effort to fight open defecation in whatever form and promote the use of household toilets in Ghana.

Open defecation is the cause of most preventable OPD cases in the country and the main cause of cholera, typhoid, and many other diarrheal illnesses.

As a society, open defecation also affects the dignity of Ghanaians as decent people and can also affect the potential gains from tourism, the statement said.

Formed in September, 2018, M-CODe has been partnering with like-minded institutions to step up advocacy against open defecation in Ghana.