A 16-year-old girl Pascaline Adadevoh has lost her life in a tragic accident on the Vakpo-Aneta road in the North Dayi Constituency of the Volta Region, after being struck by a vehicle transporting political party logistics.
Pascaline, who just completed Junior High School at Cornerstone Preparatory School and the only child of her mother, was a vibrant young girl with dreams her single mother had worked tirelessly to support.
Sources indicate that the rented vehicle involved was carrying items such as party T-shirts and other political paraphernalia reportedly intended for distribution in the Oti Region. The delivery was said to have been orchestrated on the instructions of Amanda Okyere, an associate of former President John Dramani Mahama, who allegedly requested these items for a campaign effort in the constituency.
Many young people in the community have expressed outrage, holding former President Mahama indirectly responsible for the tragic incident because the vehicle was carrying his campaign items.
Since the accident, the small, close-knit village of Aneta has been enveloped in grief and anger. However, when the community members realised that all the occuapnts of the vehicle were in all NDC shirts, their anger subsided, realising that it was an accident not out negligence calmed their tempers.
Tensions have been mounting, and several local youth have vowed not to forgive President Mahama and the NDC parliamentary candidate of the area Hon. JoycelynTetteh, attributing the incident to the political activities they feel took precedence over the safety of community members.
Efforts to reach the Member of Parliament for North Dayi, Mrs. Joycelyn Tetteh, whose constituency the accident happened, have so far been unsuccessful. Incidentally, the MP of the area and the Running mate of the party visited the family that same week that unfortunate incident happened further dousing the so called tempers of the community inhabitants, comiserating with them.
The rental company of the car took care of other associated cost of the sad incident, taking blame for everything and freeing Amanda of any liability.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the police, led by the Kpando Divisional Police Commander, visited Pascaline’s family to offer condolences. The delegation included the North Dayi Police Commander and the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) commander from Kpando, who joined in expressing their sympathies to the grieving mother.
The police have since commenced investigation into the fatal accident. Despite these efforts, the atmosphere in Aneta remains tense and volatile, with many villagers demanding accountability and a clearer explanation for the circumstances that led to Pascaline’s tragic death. The driver however is still in lawful custody as investigations continue.