Views of selected government officials on the impact of a rural water supply program in Ghana

Abstract

The United States Agency for International Development has in recent years adopted a simple, rapid, low-cost and effective method in evaluating rural water supply and sanitation programs in the developing world. Included in this method is the solicitation of information from government officials of the country involved in the program. In most cases, the information on the impact of the program is sought from bureaucrats at the national ministerial level, and are not succinctly reported. This article examines the awareness, role(s) and views of selected government officials associated with rural development on the impacts of a rural water supply program in Ghana. The views of the bureaucrats were in most cases compared with personal observations and individual interviews conducted with 126 women in randomly selected rural communities. The results of the study indicate that bureaucrats at the national ministerial level have little or no knowledge on the impact of the program on the intended beneficiaries, despite the fact that they were involved in the program earlier than their regional and district level counterparts.