HOW DOES AFRICA SHATTER AN ILLUSION?
In the late 1990s, the management of 190 urban water systems in Ghana, then controlled by
the public company Ghana Water Sewerage Corporation (GWSC, which later became the GWCL),
faced a crisis. The company was US$344 million in debt due to inefficiency and corruption.
The World Bank was promoting its “Program of Economic Recovery and Structural Adjustment”
in line with the prevailing neo-liberal orthodoxy. Given this program, the government began
to raise water tariffs by 140% in 1998. Finally in 2006, Aqua Vitens Rand was awarded a
contract based on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
Far from improving, water service actually worsened. Water cuts generated such outrage that
the government had to commission an audit. The findings were devastating. The commitments to
improving the quality had not been met, with the tragic result that water treatments failed
to neutralize the arsenic, lead, cyanide, copper and zinc from open-pit mining operations.
The Coalition Against Water Privatization (a broad alliance of community and religious groups,
unions and civic society from 24 African countries) merged with the African Water Network to
fight for the human right to drinking water.
Texts: Al-Hassan Adam
Photography: Abdul-Yakeen Aluiza Amasaba
