Couldn’t we Accord them some Modicum of
Dignity at Death?
By Naana Ekua Eyaaba
![]() |
Accra Floods |
I cried, in fact I wailed uncontrollably the
whole day. Everyone in the house was upset at my unusual behaviour because I
continued intermittently over the next three days. None of them had ever seen
me cry so much. In fact, the last time anyone saw me cry in public was when my
grandmother, (bless her soul), died some fifty years ago!
I received two WhatsApp messages early on
Thursday, 4th June 2015. The first message showed the late
Prof. Ata Mills grinning from ear to ear, as he shook hands with one Patrick
Fine. The caption of the news item of 10th March 2012 was,
“Ghana gets $795m to construct Accra drains and Western Lines.” According to
the article, $95m of the money was earmarked for Accra drains, while $200m was
to be used for the rehabilitation of the Western Rail lines.
The write-up went on to say that, “The
Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor and Deputy Minister of Transport, Dzifa
Attivor, initialled for Ghana, while the Managing Directors of Conti
Engineering and General Electric signed for their respective companies.”
Across the article, at about the third
paragraph was the inscription in bold red letters, “sika no wo hen, drains no
so wo hen?” Later in the day, I read an accusation by the minority in
Parliament that the government diverted the money in question.
A few hours later, I read a denial by the
current Minister of Finance Mr Seth Tekper in which he claimed that the said
money has never hit government accounts. Yet another news report of March 2012
said the late Prof. Mills actually cut the sod for the commencement of this
project.
That set me thinking that someone is not
being straight with the people of Ghana, with respect to the tragedy of 3rd June.
So I decided to do some research that led me to a new revelation. On 21st July
1996, the then Minster of Works and Housing, one Mr David Amaknwah announced
that a total of “$52m ($24m from the World Bank and $28m from the Kuwait Fund)
had been received by government for major drainage works in Accra. Mr Amankwah
named the target areas as North Kaneshie, Mateheko, Nima and, you got it, the
stretch from the Kwame Nkrumah Circle to the Odaw River. In this case the money
had actually hit the government account, wow!
However, what sent me wailing uncontrollably
was the second Whatsapp posting that showed the dead in the Kwame Nkrumah
Circle tragedy (including women whose clothes had completely been burnt to
their nakedness), being tossed into an open truck by security personnel as
fellow Ghanaians stood by, some screaming, others shouting or perhaps wailing
like I have been doing.
Lord have mercy! These images were being
beamed around the world. So couldn’t we as a nation, accord a little dignity to
our dead compatriots with even calico covering or plastic body bags? For the
first time in my entire life, I felt ashamed to be a Ghanaian and I still am!
Examples from elsewhere
In January 2001, as a result of an overflow
of the hospital’s mortuary and a malfunctioning door, seven dead bodies neatly
wrapped in bedsheets were left overnight on the floor of the chapel of rest of
a hospital in East Anglia, UK. The chapel of rest is not a place of religious
worship but an unrefrigerated, carpeted annexe of the main mortuary which is
used by visitors to view deceased relatives. This was a secure area, and not
normally accessible to the public. But what had happened was “an affront to
human dignity,” it was claimed nationwide.
Someone photographed the bodies and leaked it
to local and national newspapers and there was national outrage. The public was
shocked, the minister responsible was outraged and a manager was fired on the
spot. Initially, when the Chief Executive of the hospital trust was
interviewed, he said what had happened “was no resigning matter”, but after the
public outcry and protests in the news media and near the hospital’s premises,
the chief executive resigned. There was a public enquiry and measures were
instituted to forestall a future occurrence.
Following the 24th March 2015
German Wings plane crash in the French Alps, in which 150 passengers and crew
lost their lives, accident investigators were lowered from helicopters into
ravines and steep cliffs to pick body parts into body bags. The painstaking,
often dangerous exercise was done so the parts could later be re-assembled
using the DNA of relatives, so as to give each victim a proper burial.
According to anthropologists, in the animal
kingdom, elephants are known to bury and mourn their dead. Elephants apparently
first cover their dead colleagues with grass, and then gather over a
considerable length of time, to pay their respect and to mourn the departed.
Also, some bird species are known to hide their dead in crevices as far away
from public view as possible.
The customary practice in most Akan areas of
Ghana is that the first person that chances upon a dead person in a public
place has to cover the body up, to accord them some dignity. So a man either
covers the dead person’s face with his hat or some other item of clothing or in
some cases, his cloth. A woman who first appears at such a scene, covers the
unfortunate one with her “top” cloth or “akatado.”
About a week ago, someone sent me a WhatsApp
message in which the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is reported to
have spoken disparagingly about Arabs and Black people, saying that Black
people in particular, can never be counted among the human race and that the
fact that we walk, talk and somehow live like human beings does not necessarily
make us human. I have fought such bigotry for a very long time, but after this
display of primitivism among my own kind on 3rd June, for the
first time in nearly forty years, I may have to at least, in part, agree with a
bigot.
Whoever took the decision to dump 150 of our
unfortunate brothers and sisters into an open truck with no attempt whatsoever
at some human dignity does not deserve to be counted among humans.
Demonstration of honesty in national
affairs
As far as I can remember, during the period
1995 to 2014, floods killed about 150 people in Accra. The cost in damage to
private and commercial property runs into billions. With another 150 dead in
the latest tragedy, it means we have lost 300 of our compatriots in the past
twenty years through official incompetence, irresponsibility and criminal
negligence. These tragedies that have destroyed the lives of hundreds of
Ghanaians for ever as their guardians and breadwinners have been prematurely
taken away, have rather become photo opportunities and meaningless political
speech-making for our leaders. They appear on radio and television and before
the still cameras, to shed crocodile tears and receive messages of condolences
from mostly African and Third World leaders who cannot see through the charade.
Citizens have contributed to aid funds that
have been misappropriated by officials of state institutions, some of which are
mandated by law, to institute measures that could limit or even eliminate these
preventable losses of precious lives.
After twenty years of this near annual
ritual, for the people of Ghana, and especially those who have lost loved ones
in past floods, it is cruel to institute national days of mourning, which only
go to inflict more pain and misery on those who have lost loved ones in the
past, knowing that after the fanfare, it would be back to business as usual.
What we need as a people, is the criminal prosecution of the Accra city
authorities, the heads of Goil, the National Standards Board and the
Environmental Protection Council who are mandated by law, to regulate filling
stations and restaurants in Accra.
And if the state will not do it, those who
have lost loved ones in these tragedies should come together and institute a
class action. If I had lost anyone, I would be touring the country today
campaigning for signatures for the class action.
The prosecution must be preceded by just one
hour of honesty and integrity in national politics. The three surviving
presidents of Ghana, Messrs Rawlings, Kufuor and Mahama (the three Johns) must
call a press conference, look Ghanaians in the eye, through television cameras
and address them directly in the order, Mr Rawlings, followed by Mr Kufuor and
finally Mr Mahama.
Mr Rawlings said of the latest tragedy, “he
wished he had a bulldozer.” I have discovered from my research that the best
and most expensive bulldozer on the market today is the “Mover Crawler 0332
320hp” model by Crawler. It sells for between $150,000 and $200,000. For the
sake of argument, I am assuming that the most expensive bulldozer in 1996 sold
for $200,000. That means with the $52m that Mr Amankwah announced to the world
that the government of Mr Rawlings received, Ghana could acquire at least 200
of those bulldozers, with the rest of the money being spent on labour and fuel.
The questions according to the WhatsApp
message are: “Sika no wo hen? Drains no wo hen? Na bulldozers no so wo
hen?” Mr Rawlings should tell us exactly what happened to the money, the
bulldozers, the drains or any of the three.
Mr Kufuor did some emergency desilting and
drains repairs after the major floods of June 2001. But what exactly did he do
for the long term protection of the poor residents of Accra and those whose
loved ones were criminally killed on 3rd June 2015.
Finally, Mr Mahama should explain to the people
of Ghana why he and his former boss lied through their teeth to the people of
Ghana in March 2012, and why with the demise of his former boss, he has
continued to lie to the people for three years, while our compatriots continue
to perish.
If Messrs Rawlings and Kufuor cannot give any
reasonable answers to the people of Ghana, then with all due respect, I suggest
that they shut up and allow the people of Ghana to grieve in peace! As for Mr
Mahama, I leave the question of whether he should resign or not to his
conscience and his God.
I shall return with my beaded gourd, God
willing.
Naana Ekua Eyaaba has an overarching
interest in the development of the African continent and Black issues in
general. Having travelled extensively through Africa, the Black communities of
the East Coast of the United States as well as London and Leeds (United
Kingdom), she enjoys reading, and writes when she is irritated, and edits when
she is calm. You can email her at naanaekuaeyaaba@gmail.com, or read
her blog at https://naanaekuaeyaaba.wordpress.com/.
Note
* If you would like me to publish your
article on this website, please get in touch at angelinakm75@gmai.com. Thank
you.
Sign up here with your email
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon