At the awards ceremony organised by World Vision Ghana (WVG) a Christian religious organisation, and some of its partners, the Assembly received a motorbike, laptops, tablets for data collection and a certificate among other prizes.

The organisers promised to let the laureate assembly participate in international conferences and link it to corporate institutions and development partners for greater investment in wash service delivery.

The Assembly emerged top in the competition, in which the 30 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the five Regions in Northern Ghana and the Oti Region participated, showing demonstrable commitment to prioritising and increasing investments for sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) service delivery.

The 2d Baobab Awards was organised under the Unites States Agency for International Development (USAID)-Enhancing WASH Activity, where the USAID, WVG and Global Communities, a development-oriented non-government organisation (NGO), and partners are working with the 39 MMDAs and sector agencies to facilitate systems strengthening towards improved WASH outcomes in the country, particularly Northern Ghana.

The Mion and the Karaga District Assemblies, respectively, were the first and second runners up in the contest and they picked similar prizes.

The awards ceremony was held on the theme: “Defining the Path for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene as National Development Priority.”

Madam Lydia Seyram Alhassan, the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, who presented the prizes to the winners, commended the Assemblies for the remarkable strides made in the quest to improve WASH service delivery.

She observed that the districts had shown great dedication to the communities they served and urged other Assemblies to let their achievements inspire them to act.

While giving assurance of the commitment of the Ministry to facilitate access to clean water and sanitation, the Minister called for strong partnerships and collaboration to build resilient WASH infrastructure and services.

Mr. Joshua Roland Baidoo, the Director of Strategy and Integrated Programmes, and also Acting WVG National Director, called on the government to prioritise and invest massively in WASH infrastructure at all levels.

He said this required planning and budgeting for WASH activities and integrating WASH at every level of development, including the MMDAs and community levels, adding that, “this is the only way WASH can be accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, social or economic status.”

Mr. Harold Esseku, a WASH Specialist at World Bank Ghana, chaired the awards ceremony.