The tragic incident that rocked the nation a week ago left many in shock, in utter dismay and disgust.
Probably because the incident could have been predicted by a primary school kid considering our bad waste management practices and attitude towards waste disposal.
After all, if I know the consequences of drinking a poisonous fluid, and I indeed consume it, and later die in pain, I cannot blame the gods of the land, but my folly.
Several politicians and public servants, whose negligence may have caused the incident are making their usual ‘social studies’ comments.
[contextly_sidebar id=”tVOwhFbrEdKABHve3t4Rj8NjO9QAREhe”]The death of over 150 persons caused by the floods in Accra is unprecedented and it was expected for politicians, companies, and celebrities to evoke the support of the public by supporting the victims through donations.
Indeed scores of personalities including ‘dead’ celebrities and some opportunistic politicians have launched their campaigns to solicit funds for the victims of the incident.
I am sure the belief is that their supposed public influence will enable them garner as much resources as people from the public but for me, I will not donate anything to any of the emerging ‘advertising’ and ‘fame-seeking’ charities, seeking to help victims of the ‘GOIL explosion’ incident especially.
None of the emergency service institutions or government are able to tell us the number and nature of casualties recorded.
President John Mahama on Wednesday said the total number of deaths has risen to 150 but the total number of injured persons is still unknown.
Possibly due to the gravity of the incident and poor information management.
Identification of scores of charred bodies remains a challenge so as we speak, a list of all lost souls or injured persons is non-existent. That makes it impossible even to track the families of most of the victims.
After the 9/11 terror attack in the USA, one can easily access information on the number of death, the names of the victims and the number of injured persons.
The death toll after the Accra Sports Stadium May 9, disaster is known and the names of the victims and their families have been properly identified.
In fact, there is an account, managed by a board of trustee, which manages a relief account for the families of the victims.
This way, any charity organisation, willing to donate or offer any assistance, is able to identify the families of victims.
Don’t get me wrong, we know of some of the surviving victims who can receive such aid. But my point is that, until the actual number or identification is made, any donation or aid channelled to the victims may be disproportional. Thus, some are likely to benefit more than others or some may not receive any aid at all because no proper identification of the victims has been made. So on what basis will any celebrity or politician appeal to me to make a donation or pledge? How will there be accountability of monies or items collected when we have no idea the basic statistics involved? Based on what figure did government arrive at a GH50 million relief capital?
Public appeals are based on trust and transparency. I cannot dole out my resources to charity when I am not sure where it will be channelled to. The medical expenses of all victims have been absorbed by government so my suspicion is that most of the solicited funds may be targeted at the ‘outside-the-hospital’ life of victims. But we cannot be going round in the name of charity, to solicit for funds when there is no proper system of accountability by any of these emerging crusaders.
A Vice President of FIFA, Jack Warner, who is at the centre of corruption charges is being accused by the US State Department of diverting US$750,000 in emergency funds donated by FIFA and the Korean Football Association intended for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. A clear example of what could go wrong with the current ‘fundraising craze’ with virtually no accountability structures.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not against charity or any person attempting to alleviate the plight of the victims and their families. But with the way scores of people, are launching funds to support the victims, there must be a system of accountability, proper identification and details of the total number of victims and their families is needed to ensure the funds are well target. Else some of us will find it difficult donating to such funds or the funds may not receive the kind of public support it requires.
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By: Franklin Badu Jnr/citifmonline.com/Ghana