Following the reversal of water privatisation in Ghana and parts of the United Kingdom (UK), the Our Water, Our Right Africa Coalition (OWORAC) has described water privatisation as a ruse and rejected every measure of control of the public water system.

OWORAC, during a media briefing in Lagos yesterday as part of the events marking the Africa Week of Action, from October 12-18, 2026, pointed out that water privatisation was reversed in Ghana and some parts of the UK when the masses realised the fraud it had become.

The Coalition, while considering the theme of this year’s Africa Water Week, “Reclaiming Africa’s Water Future: Public Water for All,” mobilised communities, civil society organisations, workers, women, youths and water justice movements across Africa against water privatisation.

National President, Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association (PERESSA), Rufus Olusesan, described Public-Private Participation (PPP) in the water sector as a ruse.

He added: “Water should not be purchased. Iju, Adinyan and Ishasi communities that host water works don’t have water, but water from their areas is pumped to Ikoyi and Lekki to serve the privileged few.

“As a labour movement, we condemn water privatisation, which had been reversed in Ghana and the UK. We should create democratic control.”

OWORAC, in a statement presented by Geoffrey Occansey of Water Citizens Network, Ghana, called on governments across the continent to ensure that Africa’s water future is shaped by the needs, rights and voices of the people who depend on water every day.

The Coalition also called on African governments to prioritise universal access to safe, affordable and reliable water and sanitation services as a public responsibility and human right, establish clear and measurable national and regional financing commitments, including a public investment benchmark for water and sanitation, as well as strengthen and adequately fund public water institutions and utilities, while safeguarding them from undue external interference and commercial capture.

It also demanded transparent water-related contracts, agreements, financing arrangements, tariffs, allocations and expenditures; guarantee the meaningful participation of communities, workers, women and other affected groups in water governance and decision-making, as well as reject privatisation, commercialisation, concessions, public-private partnerships, management and lease contracts, outsourcing, prepaid water-meter systems, and other arrangements that transfer the control or delivery of public water services to commercial interests.

On the achievement of OWORAC since it started the campaign, Occansey asserted that the Coalition succeeded in putting the capitalists on their toes, noting that the Bretton Woods institutions promoting water privatisation “do not sleep; they lurk around waiting for the people to sleep, so they can strike.”

Also, the Assistant Executive Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Zikora Ibeh, said: “No matter how long governments pretend to be asleep, we will keep waking them. You may say we do this yearly without results; if we stop, they will up their game.”

The Associate Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Olamide Martins, warns of a looming problem if the water issue is not resolved.