A human rights lawyer has called for expeditious investigations into the death of the six young women at the El-Wak Sports Stadium military recruitment disaster in Accra.
The deceased were among thousands of young people who turned up at the stadium with the hope of joining the military when the tragic stampede happened on Wednesday, November 12.
Mr Agyei made the call in a statement issued and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, saying that “the six promising young ladies met their untimely deaths under very tragic, bizarre, and cruel circumstances without any fault of theirs or their parents.”
“But here we are; they have been painfully lost to family and nation through the ineptitude and cluelessness of certain officials,” it added.
“As of now, Ghanaians are at sea as to whether the officers whose negligence led to the El-Wak Stadium disaster are still at post or facing any form of disciplinary action.”
I do not think we can sweep this tragedy under the carpet and allow the culprits to go scot-free without any consequences for their actions,” the statement indicated, questioning that: “What lessons or examples are we sending to future officers of state institutions and agencies if we do not crack the whip?”
It said, “Giving the affected families support for the funerals and compensation is a welcome development, but the nagging question is, are these amounts adequate compensation for the victims’ families?”
“On December 2, I stumbled on a story that says that the deputy minister for Defense, Brogya Genfi, has announced that a sum of GHC50,000 is being given to the families of the El-Wak Stadium stampede deceased victims for the organization of their funerals and GHC100,000 as compensation for the families,” it said.
The statement explained that “at least for the sake of the memory of the departed youngsters, some form of accountability ought to be demanded from those who were in charge of the recruitment into the Ghana Army.”
“Coming back to the amounts of money being paid to the deceased victims’ families, I state unequivocally that the compensation package is woefully inadequate and ridiculously low.
Much as I would not disagree with the proposition that no amount of money can restore the lost souls, giving these paltry amounts of money to the affected families is so demeaning, if not degrading, for the memory of the lost victims of the stampede,” it added.
“More so, looking at the circumstances under which the deaths occurred (when the innocent deceased girls were seeking to be employed by enrollment into the Ghana Army), a state burial for them would have had a significant effect on the nation’s history and been a befitting honor for those who died.”
It reminded us that “we have lost six promising and energetic young women in a very painful manner, and therefore we could have given them the last respect at a state-level funeral to show that they died as heroines whose lives were dear to Mother Ghana.”
The statement entreated, “Our leaders to demonstrate at all times that Ghana is worth dying for, as a nation, because any nation that deprives its heroes of honor and dignity is not worth dying for.”
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