THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE WA MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY IN IMPLEMENTING THE ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION POLICY IN THE WA MUNICIPALITY

Abstract

The enactment of any Environmental Sanitation Policy should be followed by an assessment of its effectiveness for optimal benefit. Performance of National Sanitation Policies, particularly those in developing countries is one of the major interests in policy research. This is so because; research on policy implementation has decreased, though the issue itself has not lost its urgency. This research sets out to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of Ghana's Environmental Sanitation Policy (ESP) in the Wamunicipality.The methodology used was a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques involving questionnaire administration to sampled residents of the municipality and interviews with authorities of the Wa Municipal Assembly. The findings demonstrate that the implementation of the ESP in the municipality has not been effective. This is largely attributed to the weak capacity of the Municipal Assembly to carry out its mandate of delivering effective sanitation management. The study concludes that during the policy design process the contribution of the policy maker and the street-level bureaucrats equally matter to the extent to which there is a shared interest on environmental sanitation issues and recommends that there must be a balance in participation as implementation success depends on the equal participation in the policy design process.