A/R: Ampabame No.1 residents abandon new KVIP due to river god concerns.
Residents of Ampabame No.1 in the Atwima Kwanwoma District of the Ashanti Region have abandoned a newly-constructed public KVIP facility and rather defecate openly in the community over fears of being killed by a river deity.
The facility was under construction when the shrine was moved to its current location – close to the KVIP.
Speaking to Class91.3FM’s Ashanti regional correspondent Elisha Adarkwah, the Assemblymember for the area, Mr Michael Ofosuhene, explained: “That’s an old town and, so, there are no toilet facilities in the various houses”.
“So, the chief was trying to construct a KVIP for them to avoid defecating in plastics and discarding them in the open. He also supported the construction of the KVIP with funds but since it was constructed and commissioned, the people claim there’s a deity there”.
“According to them, the deity is demanding some rituals to be performed else they cannot use the KVIP.”
He further disclosed that despite the rituals performed by the traditional authorities to enable the residents of the community to use the KVIP, they prefer to engage in open defecation instead.
“The fetish priest in charge also revealed that he heard from his family home that the deity is demanding for 5 human beings for rituals,” Mr Ofosuhene noted.
He added that there has been a series of stakeholder engagements and public education to sensitise residents on the use of the facility but they have declined to use the KVIP.
read also: Hohoe records 89 Covid-19 positive cases in June
A total of 89 positive Covid-19 cases have been recorded in June, this year in the Hohoe Municipality.
Aside January and February, which recorded 41 and six cases respectively, no positive cases were recorded in the months of March, April and May 2022.
Mr Sylvanus Hadzitsey, Coordinator, Hohoe Municipal Covid-19 Management Centre in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) disclosed that one death was recorded in February, this year.
He said the total active case counts under management as at the end of June was 15 adding that most of the positive cases were from people, who had not taken any of the Covid-19 vaccine jabs.
Mr Hadzitsey said contributing factors to the rise in positive cases could be linked to the easing of safety protocols and failure on the part of people to observe these protocols and the use of materials such as hand sanitizers and nose masks.
He said there remained the absence of the social distancing protocol, the belief that the disease does not exist, failure on parts of institutions including schools to ensure adherence to protocols.
Mr Hadzitsey urged people to get vaccinated as well as continue to observe the safety protocols.
The Municipality recorded a total of 88 positive cases with one death in 2020 and 615 cases with ten deaths last year.
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