How Upper West Regional Minister turned a 'Good Samaritan' to save an accident victim

Correspondence from Upper West Region

A motor accident scene involving a 4-year-old boy on the Insurance road in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region once again brought to bear the good side of the Regional Minister, Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih.

This happened on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, when the convoy of the Regional Minister which was returning from the commissioning of the new edifice of the Jirapa Traditional Council at Jirapa was greeted by an accident scene where little Fatawu Ibrahim from Dondoli, a suburb in Wa Municipal, was reportedly hit by a motorbike rider on his way home from school.

The boy was said to have been knocked down in his attempt to cross the road to the other side but was left unattended with blood oozing all over the head and other parts of the body.

According to the Public Relations Officer of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), Mr. Cletus Awuni, Dr. Hafiz immediately stopped the convoy and rushed the boy to the Wa Municipal Hospital for treatment.

He added that the Minister, after rushing the accident victim to the health facility, spent some time there before entrusting his care to the Upper West Regional Director of Education who also happened to be at the facility later on.

"The motor rider who hit the boy did not offer much help until the Minister and his entourage who were returning from Jirapa where he commissioned the new edifice of the Jirapa Traditional Council, timely arrived at the scene of the accident. Dr. Bin Salih stopped his vehicle and rushed the little boy to the hospital immediately for treatment.

The Minister was at the hospital for close to an hour to ensure that the boy was given good medical care before he left for the office. The Minister before leaving the hospital left the boy under the care of the Regional Director of Education, Abdul Razak Korah who also got to the hospital later," Mr. Cletus narrated.

The RCC Public Relations Officer told GhanaWeb that when the Minister's convoy stopped to rush the boy to the hospital, the eyewitnesses and onlookers present at the scene tried shielding the motor rider who knocked down the boy when the Minister enquired to know who the perpetrator of the act was.

But he indicated the motor rider was later apprehended by the police after he was finally fished out.

"Report indicates that people around the accident scene were trying to shield the motor rider when the Minister asked who hit the boy. The initial response to the Minister's question from the people around the accident scene was that the motor rider had left meanwhile, the young man was standing with them.

After several questioning, the gentleman owned up and the police arrested him. Reports from the Regional Director of Education this morning indicate that the boy’s parents were finally traced and contacted and that the boy is doing well and has been discharged from the hospital this morning," Cletus added.

Many residents who witnessed the incident lauded the swift response by the Minister and called on all to be sensitive and show love and care to others as Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih has exhibited.