Water Privatization and Social Citizenship: The Case of Urban Water Sector in Ghana

Abstract

The impact of globalization on citizenship has recently gathered considerable academic attention. In the literature it is assumed that globalization will alter citizenship, either by constraining or enabling it. The article explores this question through the relationship between water privatization and social citizenship. It asks to what extent privatization, as an aspect of globalization, alters people's social right to water. Drawing from interviews and documents collected in 2008 and 2009, and a review of secondary literature, the article argues that in Ghana's capital Accra, water privatization left people's social citizenship relatively unchanged. The study shows how social citizenship is rooted in its historical context of unequal access to water in a post-colonial society, and how the privatization policy was mediated by this context, bringing relatively little change. Instead, many flexible, self-enforced social citizenships are in place which challenge the universal notions of Western political theory and which continued to operate under the privatization arrangement. The article concludes that in some cases, globalization influences citizenship less than previous literature argues, and suggests that for making balanced arguments, debates about water privatization need to take the contextual dynamics of specific settings more carefully into account.

Anatomy of the Privatization of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in Ghana: Implication for Policy and Accountability

“…For instance, the National Coalition Against Privatization (NCAP), the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) decried what it saw as lack of transparency in the decision-making concerning water privatization (Whitfield, 2006). Also, there was labour unrest among GWCL workers who anticipated lay-offs and protested about the enhanced employment conditions of expatriate staff of AVRL compared to theirs (Hirvi, 2012). This led to intense pressure mounted on the government to abrogate the contract.…”

“…However, by the close of the contract in 2011, NRW was still at an average of 50% (GWCL, 2018, p.19). The operator, AVRL also failed to meet key performance indicators such as bill collection, whilst water quality continued to deteriorate (Hirvi, 2012).…”

How Frames Matter—Common Sense and Institutional Choice in Ghana’s Urban Water Sector

“…Water sector reforms in Ghana have attracted some previous scholarly interest due to the debates and controversies generated by the PSP reform in Ghana’s urban water sector. Previous studies have addressed the nature and direction of these more recent reforms and their associated governance and democratic aspects (see, e.g., Hirvi, 2012; Suleiman, 2011; Whitfield, 2006; Yeboah, 2006). Bohman (2012) and McCaskey (2009) make efforts to historicize contemporary policy debates in Ghana by examining discussions on urban water management during the colonial era.…”

“…Previous studies have addressed the nature and direction of these more recent reforms and their associated governance and democratic aspects (see for example Yeboah, 2006;Whitfield, 2006;Suleiman, 2011, Hirvi 2012. Bohman (2012) and McCaskey (2009) make efforts to historicize contemporary policy debates in Ghana by examining discussions on urban water management during the colonial era.…”