He said the development of communities and their members should not elude any NGO seeking to shape the development needs of the people whose plight moved them to seek funding to address their situation.

“It must be emphasised that some supposed NGOs are using the name of our communities to source for funding to enrich themselves without doing anything to better the lives of the people whose names are used to source for support,” he said.

Mr Bukari said this in a speech read on his behalf at a joint launch of two projects; Integrated Community Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement (ICOWASH) and Rural Emergency Health Service and Transport (REST II), by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS)at Walewale in the West Mamprusi District of the Northern Region.

The event was on the theme; “Strengthening Institutional and Community Systems for Improved Health and Wellbeing: The Need for Integrated WASH and Health Interventions.” The projects would benefit the Karaga, Gushegu, Kumbungu, West and East Mamprusi, and Mamprusi Moaduri Districts of the Northern Region, and the Nabdam, Builsa South and Kassena Nankana West districts of the Upper East Region.

Mr Bukari entreated NGOs to live above reproach and bring to bear the needs of community members in the areas they operated because they opted to serve the people and must, therefore, be accountable to them.

He mentioned potable water supply, sanitation and limited access to health and other related opportunities as some of the challenges the two regions faced. The Minister said it was refreshing that the ICOWASH Project would be holistically integrated into programming for the West Mamprusi and Talensi districts to ensure that all members of the community at the household level, schools and health facilities had sustained access to safe water and good hygienic practices.

“According to the United Nations 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report, the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water is high in Ghana,” he said, and added that the share of non-functional supply systems in Ghana was estimated at almost one third, with many others operating substantially below designed capacity.

Mr Bukari expressed dissatisfaction that the main sources of water in many parts of rural Ghana and the Northern Region in particular, had small ponds and unprotected wells, which were easily polluted and most often caused water-borne diseases.

Madam Patricia Ayiko, the Upper East Regional Director of Education, said the projects were good initiatives by CRS Ghana because water was key, especially in the smooth operation of the School Feeding Programme. She said the Education Directorate was ready to partner any NGO that operated within its needs, and called on them to always seek their guidance and direction to lead them to areas where their services were most needed.