In the low-income urban communities of Kumasi, Ghana, a large part of the population live in compound
housing, where they often share the same living space with more than 20 tenants. Partly resulting from
the high prevalence of public toilets in the city, the vast majority of these tenants have no access to ‘inhouse’
sanitation. Led by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, a five-year strategy is being prepared to
promote increased adoption, access, usage and maintenance of compound toilets in Kumasi’s lowincome
communities. This paper shares the results of a desk and field-based study commissioned to
inform the strategy: among the key challenges to be confronted are the clarification of responsibilities
between landlords and tenants with regards to financing sanitation improvements, and the need to
motivate landlords - at the hub of compound level sanitation governance - to improve the situation for the
betterment of their tenants