New Wa Rotary Club President appeals to members to support open defecation campaign

The new President of the Rotary Club of Wa, Mr Alhassan Inusah Agambire has appealed to members in the Upper West Region to pool resources to support the campaign on ending open defecation in the Region.

The Rotarian noted that although ending open defecation completely was an arduous task, with the combination of skills and resources of Club members as well as deliberate interventions aimed at improving access to sanitation facilities, open defecation would be eradicated.

Mr Agambire made the call on Saturday at a short handing-over ceremony where he took over responsibility as the new President for the 2023/2024 Rotary Year under the theme “Imagine Rotary”.

Rotary is a local club of business and professional people devoted to serving the community and promoting world peace.

As a staff of the Regional Environmental Health and Sanitation Department, Mr Agambire who was passionate about sanitation issues said the humanitarian volunteers would need to step up their efforts at ending open defecation by promoting access to basic sanitation in the various communities through club projects and other available partnerships or opportunities.

He was confident that the move if prioritsed would lead to drastic reduction in the menace of Open defecation and improved sanitation.

“Rotary has worked to end the frustration of some rural communities by complimenting government’s efforts at providing boreholes and small town water supply systems; we have invested in drilling over 20 boreholes and still committed to providing more if resources are mobilized and allocated”, he stated.

He explained that Rotary aimed at creating hope by providing access to potable water for communities that were struggling to access clean water to prevent them from drinking polluted water and compromising their health and well-being.

The president stated that through their activities, Rotary could also invest in other areas such as supporting the equipping of the regional hospital and other health facilities as well as supporting mental health services in the region.

He stressed that in line with Rotary’s aim of creating and restoring hope to the world by providing people with limitless opportunities through resource mobilisation, it was only ideal that members pooled resources to service society.

The immediate past president of the Club in Wa, Mr Stephen Mwinkaara highlighted some benevolent activities that were embarked on by the club during his tenure of office.

He listed among other things the donation of sight box to the Wa School for the Blind, donation of sanitary pads to school girls in some communities as well as donation of medical and nursing books to the Wa Nursing Training College.

He mentioned that the club added seven new members under his tenure as President.

The Assistant District Governor of the Rotary Club in Accra, Mr Rudolf Adageba Kantum took participants through expectation of the District for the year and it included donation to polio fund, increasing membership through enhanced publicity and making more donations to support activities.

The new President and his nine-member executives were inducted into office at the event.

FROM LYDIA DARLINGTON FORDJOUR, WA