sanitation methods in the ashanti empire including the prevalence of latrines across the houses of kumasi. what surprised me most... was the discovery that every house had its cloacae (latrine), besides the common ones for the lower orders without the town. they were generally situated under a small archway in the most retired angle of the building, but not unfrequently upstairs, within a separate room like a small closet where the large hollow pillar also assists to support the upper story: the holes are of small circumference, but dug to a surprising depth, and boiling water is daily poured down, which effectually prevents the least offence....— bowdich, 1817. in 1821, william hutton confirmed bowdich's observations. mr. bowdich's observations regarding the houses being provided with cloacaes and the general cleanliness of the ashantees are correct; and there can be no doubt that in the arrangement of their dwellings they are superior to many of their neighbours....— hutton, 1821. bowdich recorded in the early 19th century, that rubbish and waste from all houses were burnt every morning behind the streets. according to scholar donna maier, a public works department existed in the ashanti empire under the stool called akwammofo akonnwa. this department was responsible for cleaning the streets of kumasi daily and it ensured that the people had kept their compounds clean and weeded. in 1928, the first piped water supply system was constructed at cape coast. the water supply division of the public works department was responsible for the service provision in rural and urban areas of ghana. after ghana's independence in 1957, the division was separated from the public works department and placed under the ministry of works and housing. in 1965, it was transformed into the ghana water and sewerage corporation (gwsc), a legal public utility responsible for the provision of urban and rural water supply for public, domestic, and industrial purposes as well as the establishment, operation, and control of sewerage systems. decentralization, focus on rural areas and independent regulation (1994–1999) in the mid-1990s, under the presidency of jerry rawlings and after the passing of a new democratic constitution in 1992, the government of ghana enacted five key laws that affected the responsibility for water supply and sanitation: the local government act no. 462 of 1993 defined the use of powers of district assemblies as the highest political authority in each district, headed by a district chief executive (similar to a mayor). neither the constitution nor the local government act clearly define the responsibilities of district assemblies, and initially they had no role in water supply and sanitation until they were partially transferred to them in 1999. the water resources commission act no. 552 of 1996 created the water resources commission (wrc) that was made responsible for integrated water resources management including permits for water abstraction. the public utilities and regulatory commission act no. 538 of 1997 created the public utilities and regulatory commission (purc) that was made responsible for the regulation of the electricity sector and urban water supply, including the review of requests for tariff increases, the monitoring of service quality and the protection of consumers. the community water and sanitation agency act no. 564 of 1998 created the community water and sanitation agency (cwsa) that became responsible for the support of local communities and district assemblies in terms of rural water supply and sanitation. the cwsa emerged from the community water and sanitation division that had been created as a semi-autonomous division of gwsc in 1994. under the provisions of the statutory corporations (conversion to companies) act 461 of 1993 and in line with a government policy to transform state corporations into companies operated on a commercial basis, gwsc was transformed into a company called gwcl, which remained responsible for urban water supply only, while responsibility for sewer systems was transferred to the district assemblies. in 1999, the responsibility to support communities in the provision of water supply and sanitation in more than 110 small towns and in rural areas was transferred to the district assemblies. sanitation also became a responsibility of the district assemblies, both in urban and rural areas. furthermore, the government pursued private sector participation in urban water supply with the assistance of the world bank through preparatory studies and workshops, but without actually bringing in the private sector yet. private sector participation in urban areas (2000–2011) main article: water privatization in ghana to carry out the private sector participation of gwcl, originally a 10-year lease contract was envisaged. in 2000, a lease contract between gwcl and the us company azurix failed due to public opposition and accusations of corruption which led to the formation of the coalition against water privatization. in october 2006, under the presidency of john kufuor and with the support of the world bank-funded urban water project (see below) a five-year management contract was signed between the gwcl and aqua vitens rand limited (avrl), a consortium of the dutch public water company vitens and the south african public company rand water. the main objectives of the 5-year management contract were: improving the reliability (pressure and flow rate) and quality of potable water, ensuring the company’s financial sustainability, improving customer service, and providing access to potable water at affordable prices to low income consumers. in 2008 severe water shortages in accra were reported due to power outages at two water treatment plants. the management contract expired in june 2011 without being renewed after having achieved its objectives only partially. in rural areas, the powers and resources of district assemblies were strengthened through the local government service act 656 of 2003. the act transferred the power to appoint, promote and discipline civil servants from the national government to the district assemblies. in 2006 a districts development fund was created to channel central government and donor funds in a transparent and effective way to district assemblies. an environmental, health and sanitation directorate was created in the ministry of local governments and rural development in 2009 to focus more on sanitation. in this context a program was launched to eliminate open defecation through community-led total sanitation. responsibility for water supply and sanitation the pra river system of the rivers of ghana. according to a multi-donor review of ghana's water supply sector, it is "quite well structured", with the government in charge of policy and regulation, while the private sector and communities play important roles in service delivery. the institutional framework for sanitation is much less clear, with responsibilities not being clearly defined. policy and regulation at the moment, a number of institutions exist to supervise and regulate water supply and sanitation. the policy framework is based on the ghana poverty reduction strategy (gprs). general water sector policies for both rural and urban areas are set by the water directorate within the ministry of water resources, works and housing (mwrwh). furthermore, the ministry solicits funding from external support agencies, monitors the sector, and advises the cabinet. the water sector restructuring secretariat, created in 1997 in the ministry of water resources, works and housing, oversees the process of private sector participation in the sector. the ministry of local government and rural development shares responsibility for setting sanitation policies and coordinating funding for the subsector with mwrwh. the government promotes decentralization so that sanitation policies are expected to be carried out by metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies. to enforce environmental quality laws, the environmental protection agency (epa) under the ministry of environment and science is expected to examine the impact of sanitation development activities on the environment. to overcome the lack of coordination between the numerous sector institutions, the minister of water resources, works, and housing, abubakar saddique boniface, launched a national water policy (nwp) in february 2008, which covers water resources management, water supply and sanitation. although the sector has made progress, a lack of coherence in policy formulation resulted in a multitude of implementation strategies. the nwp aimed to formulate a comprehensive sector policy and to make it easier for development partners to provide the necessary support to the sector. the nwp had been prepared by the water resources commission (wrc) since 2002. urban areas the ghana water company ltd. (gwcl) is responsible for providing, distributing, and conserving water for domestic, public, and industrial purposes in 82 urban systems in localities with more than 5,000 inhabitants. local private companies are in charge of meter installation, customer billing, and revenue collection. urban sanitation is a responsibility of local governments. rural areas a rope pump close to paga, upper east region. the community water and sanitation agency (cwsa) is in charge of coordinating and facilitating the implementation of the national community water and sanitation programme (ncwsp) in rural areas, which is carried out directly by the communities and their district assemblies. the ncwsp focuses on three main objectives to achieve health improvements: safe water supply, hygiene education, and improved sanitation. the cwsa was created in 1994 under the framework of the ghana decentralization policy and became autonomous in 1998. the institution does not directly construct, operate, and maintain facilities for water supply and sanitation. instead, its role is to coordinate the work of a number of actors which carry out the services in rural areas, including public sector organizations, local beneficiary communities, private sector organizations, and ngos. the cwsa is also expected to ensure that financial support from development partners is effectively used and to ensure hygiene education. the agency operates ten regional offices besides its head office in accra. in communities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, water supply systems are owned and managed by the respective community on a demand-driven basis. according to the ncwsp, these systems do not receive any cross-subsidies and 5% of investment costs are paid by district assemblies. communities and in rural areas and small towns elect gender-balanced water and sanitation boards consisting of volunteers, including one or two village-based caretakers who received special training in repair and maintenance. communities can contract private companies or ngos to provide technical assistance, goods, or services. local companies drill boreholes and build hand-dug wells, and local artisans are used to provide household latrines. maintenance units of cwsa have been privatized and the regional companies created through this process now perform major repairs on behalf of district assemblies. minor repairs are carried out by area mechanics. the communities' water and sanitation boards receive technical assistance by district water and sanitation teams (dwst), ideally consisting of an engineer, a hygiene expert, and a community mobilizer. however, in some districts these teams are so weak that the regional teams of cwsa resort to providing direct assistance to local water and sanitation boards. other stakeholders the ghana coalition of ngos in water and sanitation (coniwas), created in 2001, "works in partnership with sector players to influence policies, remove barriers and promote access to potable water, sanitation and improved hygiene for the poor and vulnerable." according to the coalition, giving ngos one voice for advocacy and lobbying has been one of its major benefits. innovations for poverty action innovations for poverty action (ipa) was founded in 2002 as a research and policy non-profit organization that aims to discover and promote effective solutions to global poverty issues. ipa recruits researchers and decision-makers to measure the impacts of interventions in the areas of agriculture, education, health, financial inclusion, governance, peace & recovery, small & medium enterprises, and social protection among 18 country programs. randomized control trials (rct) and other forms of qualitative research are conducted to achieve this, including the clean water in northern ghana research study. this study assesses the willingness of households in northern ghana to purchase the kosim filter that is sold by pure home water (phw), a ghana-based ngo. the study also aims to measure the health effects of household-level water treatment in areas whose populations have a high risk of waterborne disease. pure home water pure home water (phw) is a ghana-based ngo and a social enterprise. founded in 2005, phw was designed to be a manufacturer of ceramic pot water filters located in the northern city of tamale, ghana. its two goals include delivering aid to the people most in need of safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (wash) in northern ghana, and to become financially and locally self-sustaining. this is accomplished by providing training and monitoring of correct, consistent and continuous