Deputy Minister of Works, Housing, and Water Resources, Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui
The Deputy Minister of Works, Housing, and Water Resources, Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui, has called for greater synergy among investors and organizations in the water sector to maximize resources and address Ghana’s water challenges effectively.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 2025 Beyond the Pipe Forum, organized by the Safe Water Network under the theme “Innovating for Sustainable Safe Water Access,” she emphasized the need for coordination to prevent overlapping investments.
Tetteh-Agbotui noted that without collaboration, organizations like Safe Water Enterprises, Community Water, and the Ghana Water Company risk duplicating efforts, which she described as “very expensive.”
She stressed that with only five years left to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, efficient resource use is critical.
“In every locality and region, it’s important they know who covers what section,” she said.
The deputy minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to intensifying partnerships to ensure safe water access.
“The government alone cannot bear the cost or carry the investment,” she stated.
She pointed to the severe water quality crisis caused by illegal mining, or galamsey, which has left communities in affected areas with contaminated water sources.
Tetteh-Agbotui also highlighted recent government actions, including the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources deployment of 400 “water guards” to protect water bodies from galamsey’s activities.
On his part, the Country Director of Safe Water Network Ghana and Lead for Africa Initiatives, Charles Nimako, highlighted some strides attained by the organization in helping to deal with Ghana’s water supply challenges.
“Together with our fellow implementers in the Safe Water Enterprise Alliance, we are now reaching more than 2 million Ghanaians with safe and affordable water.
“This is a tremendous achievement but it’s not the finish line. It is fuel for our continued commitment to innovation, implementation, learning for improvement, knowledge sharing, and, most importantly, scale,” he stated.
Mr. Nimako pledged that in the coming months, the organization will build on its progress by strengthening the technical and financial resilience of its model.
He further called for effective collaboration to build a future where every Ghanaian has access to safely managed water services daily in every community.
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