Residents of Ampabame No-1 in the Ashanti Region cannot use a new 32-seater toilet facility because a river deity has demanded 5 human beings to be sacrificed before it can be commissioned. A priestess serving the Tano gods, guardians of the Bomofia stream, close to the facility told Nhyira FM that the gods are angry with residents’ constant dumping of waste in the stream.
She also said the gods are unhappy with the siting of a septic tank for the facility.
The Ampabame community self-help toilet project was started in 2005 in the Atwima Kwanwoma district of Ashanti. It was completed 15 years later due to financial constraints. Assembly Member for the Area, Richard Ofosuhene said after earlier commissioning, patronage of the toilet facility was low due to the shrine’s demand for human sacrifice, thus had to be locked up. The 32-seater toilet facility sits close to the Bomofia stream and a walking distance to the Tano shrine.
The highly polluted Bomofia stream looks choked due to the volume of waste in it. The Unit Committee Chairman, Chief Kojo Acheampong expressed concern majority of the residents depend on the Bomofia stream for water for their house chores, but recalcitrant residents continue to pollute it despite its usefulness.
Priestess of the Tano gods, after what looked like an hour of consultations with the gods told our news team, the facility cannot be operational without the required human sacrifice.
The Assembly Member said he will work with some elders of the community to perform the necessary rituals. “We have heard her, we cannot abandon the facility, so we will do the needful to re-commission it.’ The 32-seater facility will be the second public toilet in the town to serve the larger population if commissioned.
