The missing babies and the story so far: Where did we go wrong?

President Obama’s historic speech in Ghana (2009) pointed out that Africa’s development, democracy and progress depends not on strong leaders but on strong institutions. The role of institutions in promoting equity and equality, economic progress, human development, opportunities, poverty, deprivation, injustices, inequality, corruption etc. has never been a subject of doubt anywhere, but the important question to answer is; who is responsible for building strong institutions?

To western governments, the answer is democracy; to the international development community, the solution lies with civil society; and to ordinary Africans, politicians hold the answers. These all still remain promises. I argue here that the most effective solutions to institutional inefficiencies, negligence and ineffectiveness lie in the hands of informed, engaged, alert and willing citizens. Here are few examples to support my point.

Flying back to Ghana a few years ago, I was presented with a mandatory “disembarkment” form to fill before the flight lands at the KIA. The “purpose of coming to Ghana section” of the form had specific response options ranging from business to healthcare but nothing about “a Ghanaian coming home”. Feeling sure there was something wrong somewhere, I sought clarification from an immigration officer, who almost slapped me for being stupid not to choose the “other” option.

The message that form carries for any thinking Ghanaian, but not the entire Ghana Immigration Authority (GIA) is that, either the person who designed, supervised or approved the forms use, felt a foreigner coming into Ghana is more important than a Ghanaian, or perhaps the form was designed to be used by foreigners for immigration statistics as is common with most countries but for some absurdity, it is being forced on everyone on flight to Ghana. How many educated Ghanaians including lawyers and media personnel have used this form and what attempts are we making to open discussion on this? Elsewhere in the world, this could cost the director of the immigration service his or her job.

I also remember joining a panel discussion on “Ghana Connects”, a radio programme by Joy FM for topical national issues, where the issue of a clinic not licensed to carry out certain surgeries was engaged in same, resulting in the death of a young man. The family of the deceased did petition the Ghana College of Surgeons and Physicians (GCSP), the body that was to license and monitor the operations of such clinics in the country, for them to investigate the incident.

Can we not argue that by the failure to enforce the law, the GCSP, GMA, and the Ghana Health Service were all responsible for the death just as the clinic? Therefore, could it be out of ignorance that the bereaved family sought justice from a body whose negligence possibly contributed to the wrongdoing in the first place, instead of taking the case to court?

The case of missing “dead” babies at KATH is currently hotly debated in the country. KATH had a contractual obligation to deliver these women and all related services attached to the delivery including care of their babies. The death of the babies if really true, happened in the hands of the hospital staff, and it’s the responsibility of the hospital through its staff (nurses, doctors, health assistants, etc) to handover the dead bodies to their families.

No institution of state, not even the presidency is best suited to make sure this happens than the court system. Office of the chief Iman tried to help one of the victim mothers by calling for presidential intervention, but could the same office have done better by providing her legal aid to seek justice in the court instead?

These examples and host of similar daily happenings including institutional corruption, disregard of law and order by businesses, health workers experimenting with patients’ lives leading to countless deaths in the country, etc. provide test cases for trying and strengthening our state institutions using in my opinion, the only most viable medium; the judiciary system. I think that litigation alone and the burden it brings to negligent institutions can serve as the key driver for institutional responsiveness and accountability.

The responsiveness, accountability and customer-centeredness we see in the transport education, healthcare and other systems in the developed world are not the results of any superior humanity of those involved in management in these countries, but it’s partly a function of fear of litigation. The fear of lawsuits plays a key role in the strict abidance by rules and procedures by healthcare institutions in the USA, Germany, UK, etc because the slightest procedural mistake can lead to damages in millions of dollars. In Ghana, health workers can “misplace” babies and even go on strike on top of it.

This must change, and the primary responsibility lies in the hands of the citizenry facing the negative consequences of institutional ineptitudes and negligence. It is true that money and certain cultural values present significant barriers for the ordinary Ghanaians like me from thinking of our courts as places for ordinary people. But if the rule of forgiveness, ignorance, poverty, indifference and “keep-quite-and-suffer” must give way for the rule of law, Ghanaians have to start thinking seriously about using our court systems to seek redress from institutional negligence.

It’s also true that state institutions like CHRAJ, DOVVSU, Legal Aid and so called civil rights NGOs have failed us in this regard, but people like Anas Aremeyaw and Manasseh Azure are leading the new cause, “from activism to courtism”. I see a window of innovation for the growing legal professionals to provide “free” and “pay-after-victory” litigation services to victims of institutional negligence.

Untested court systems are denied the experience of navigating complex legal cases to unravel mysteries, solve problems and are ill-equipped to deliver proper rule of law. Ghanaians must begin to sue negligent institutions repeatedly until the cost of legal burden on these institutions outweighs the benefits of negligence. Until this is done, our institutions will remain same.

H.S. Wumpini

wumpini.take@gmail.com