The ages-old practice of carrying human excreta in pans has been outlawed in Accra with effect from July 8, 2008. A Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday banned the use of pan latrines and ordered the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to phase out the use of pan latrines completely by 2010 and arrest and prosecute people who engage the use of ‘night carriers’ in their homes. In a ruling described as landmark, one of the presiding judges Justice Sophia Akuffo could not help but shower praises unto the plaintiff, Nana Ampofo Adjei a private legal practitioner saying “history shall be grateful to you” The ruling further ordered the defendant the AMA who was represented by the Attorney General, Joe Ghartey to build 500 KVIPS across the capital for public use, and financially assist people with latrines to convert into water closet. The ruling comes as a relief to many, but Nana Ampofo Adjei said the ruling was a result of hard work. Speaking on Joy FM’s News Night with Evans Mensah on Wednesday, Nana Ampofo said the practice of allowing people to carry human excreta was not only dehumanising but unconstitutional and therefore prompted him to take action. He said from 1992 he found the practice as an assault on human dignity and made all efforts to stop the practice but was unsuccessful. Nana Ampofo disagreed with the assertion that carrying human excreta was a personal decision taken by individuals and should therefore take responsibility for their action. He said "it was not everything a person wanted to do that the state allowed him to." “If a person wants to commit suicide, we should not allow him to commit suicide. If a person wants to strip naked and walk on the street we should not permit him to do that.”He added. He maintained that people who engage in that kind of service was as a result of the poverty situation, and advised government to come to the aid of such persons. Nana Ampofo said he would carry out the legal action across the country in order to outlaw this in human practice. In a response to the Supreme Court ruling the Deputy Local Government Minister Maxwell Kofi Juma was full of praise for the ruling, saying the act of using pan latrines was primitive. He said the AMA should be able to implement the ruling to the latter adding that he banned the use of latrines when he was the Mayor of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly. Mr. Juma said the government will support the AMA in that direction, hinting that it (government) has already contracted a loan to undertake the building of 147 water closets this year. Author: Nathan Gadugah