Heaven being that far, we comrades Adjetey, Lamptey and Attipoe have only now read Nii-Ashitei Ashitey’s 24th February 2004 piece titled “Martyrs of XBORG cross road: Sgt Adjetey, Cpl. Lamptey and Cpl. Attipoe” [see Ghanaweb at link ]
In that piece, Nii-Ashitei suggested we be honoured with a public holiday on 28th February each year, and with our beautiful faces on coins, stamps and the like.
We hear that our beloved country Gold Coast had at last achieved its independence and is now called Ghana. We hear that Ghana is celebrating 50 years of independence from the British government, something, which we believe our tragic deaths accelerated. Before our deaths, we had hoped that in fifty years time the lives all Ghanaians would be greatly enriched with the attainment of our independence. From what we have been hearing, this has not been the case.
On the Health and Social Welfare front, we hear
• that the healthcare needs of our people have not improved and probably have got worse.
• that there are situations where mothers have been detained in hospitals after giving birth because they have not been able to pay their hospital bills.
• that in the whole of Ghana there has only one EEG machine based at Korle Bu.
• that regardless of where you live in the Country, if you suffer from some form of abnormal brain activities such as epilepsy, then you would have to travel to Accra for this test.
• that infant mortality rate remain very high in Ghana.
• that the care of the most vulnerable people in our society, mentally ill people, is very rudimentary and their treatment is a serious infringement on human right.
• that the Drs and nurses in this field are very dedicated but do not have the appropriate resources to provide the care and attention that any human being should expect.
• that provisions for care and support for our elderly people are pitiful, and that no support systems for older people who are suffering from poverty and ill-health, that older people who are suffering from the dreadful disease, Dementia have no state support and are frequently accused by the community they live in as “witches” and end up being abused both physically and psychologically by some “witch doctors” and some self styled “evangelists” who do so in the name of cure, worse that there is no state intervention at all in this respect.
• that children who suffer from Learning Disabilities are rejected by their families, through ignorance and are left to roam the streets with no supervision or protection from the state, most suffering physical, sexual and psychological abuse.
We are disappointed that after 50 years of independence no governments have thought it necessary to address these issues with the prominence that they deserve.
One the Education front, we hear
• that today, there are children who are still receiving educated under trees and sheds in some of the rural areas of the country.
• that there are children who are not receiving education as of basic right.
• that teachers are poorly paid and the moral of teachers is at all time low.
• that a large number of people educated and trained in Ghana as engineers, teachers, nurses, doctors, university lecturers, have left the country to make better lives for themselves in far away lands because the country they love is not able to look after their interest, people who are to help build our nation but instead are using their skill to build other nations. We are disappointed that after 50 years of independence no governments have thought it necessary to address these issues with the prominence that they deserve.
On the economic front, we hear
• that unemployment is very high and has lead to a generation of young people who are marginalised and feel that they have no stake in the affairs of the country and are turning to unlawful activities such as drugs smuggling and armed robbery.
• that our fishermen and farmers have fallen on hard times.
• that previous governments have given fishing rights to foreign trawlers along our shores and seas and as a result of intensive fishing by these foreign trawlers have reduced the living standards of our local fishermen from Half-Assini in the west to Ada in the east creating massive social and economic crises for the fishing communities.
• that corruption has become the order of the day with the rich and powerful taking control of the economic resources and using it to enrich themselves.
• that Malaysia, which had the same economic-base as that of Ghana at the time of their independence is far ahead of Ghana in every respect and that Europeans travel to Malaysia for medical treatment because their health service is comparable to any European standard. No such story about Ghana but that the rich and powerful leave Ghana to seek medical treatment abroad.
We are disappointed that after 50 years of independence no governments have thought it necessary to address these issues with the prominence that they deserve.
Dear Countrymen, we could go on about the things that we expected to be in place as a fifty year old nation by now, but time does not allow us to point out all the stories we have heard from heaven about the deplorable state of the nation we left behind.
We appreciate the call for us to be honoured as part of the Ghana @ 50 celebration but our humble view is that we already feel honoured by the fact that our deaths did accelerate the move to Ghana’s independence. The greatest honour that can be bestowed on the lost heroes of Ghana would be for the current generation to ask themselves the important question “What Are We Celebrating”.
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