He said though the fighting OD in the region was a herculean task, it was still possible to win it with the involvement of all concerned, especially the community members.

“We need to let people in our communities know that ending open defecation is possible together,” he said.

Mr. Inusah said this in Wa during the sixth handing-over ceremony of the Rotary Club of Wa where he took over the mantle of leadership from Mr Stephen Mwinkaara, the Immediate Past President of the Club, as the Club president for the 2023/2024 Rotary year.

Currently, the Upper West Region has 815 of its communities being Open Defecation Free (ODF) out of 1,167.

“We the humanitarian volunteers will need to step up our effort in ending open defecation by promoting access to basic sanitation in our communities through club projects and other available partnerships or opportunities to help reduce the menace of Open defecation,” Mr Inusah stated.

On water access, he said though the region had about 78 per cent of communities having access to potable water, many still had difficulty accessing clean water.

He said the Rotary Club of Wa had drilled and installed more than 20 boreholes for communities and was still committed to providing more with the availability of resources.

Drawing on the theme for the 2023/2024 Rotary year, “Creating Hope,” Mr Inusah said “… I assure you of creating a leadership of hope, a leadership of contributing to ensuring peace and a leadership of working to building peoples and communities.”

He said within his tenure as president of the Club, about one million Ghana Cedis would be expended on projects in the region to improve the lives of the people and beyond.

Those projects he identified included supporting the Upper West Regional Hospital with five dialysis machines to support the delivery of quality medical services to the people.

He said the Rotary Club of Wa would also contribute to achieving the objective of the Rotary Ghana to plant one million trees within the Rotary year as well as support the Wa Central Prison.

On membership, the new President of the Club said the target for the year was for the Club to add at least five new members to the club.

Mr. Jonathan Kowfie, the Service Project Director of the Club, said they would be implementing the “Empower Me” project at Kperisi in the Wa Municipality where young women and girls would be empowered to live more meaningful lives.

He also mentioned the Nakwabi project where the Club would be supporting the Nakwabi Orphanage with GH?14,000.00 monthly to enable the orphanage care for the children.

Mr. Rudolph Adageba Kantum, Assistant Governor of Rotary District 9104, Rotarian Baba Alargi Awal a Past Assistant Governor of Rotary District 9104, and Mr. Patrick Herve, President of the Rotary Club of Accra Ridge, among others, attended the ceremony.