Such carelessness!
The sad death of a seven-year-old kindergarten boy which was captured on the front page of the June 27, 2019 issue of the Daily Graphic changed my mood as I read and watched how his lifeless body was retrieved from the abandoned pit in a video on graphiconline.com.
Robert Okoh Tompson fell into an uncovered and abandoned underground water tank overgrown with weeds while chasing butterflies with his peers on the compound of the Kitson Mills Primary School at Korle Gonno near Korle Bu in the Greater Accra Region.
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As usual, those responsible were let off the hook while the innocent and law-abiding citizens have been subjected to the bothering knife of radio commentators and the pen of the print media.
Surprisingly even the innocent child has been accused of being careless.
The tank Robert fell in had been abandoned for the past five years by the contractors who constructed a new septic tank on the compound according to the headmaster of the school. Such irresponsible behaviour must not be allowed to go unpunished.
This should be a wakeup call to the Ghana Education Service, the Ministry of Education and the local assemblies to undertake inspections of all compounds to ensure that they are safe and also prevent the reoccurrence of such avoidable sad news.
Authorities must not wait for a second, for anything of such nature to recur. All uncompleted work in government schools, hospitals and offices must be completed to ensure that they do not pose a threat to any Ghanaian.
I would like to plead with those in power to value the lives of the ordinary people they govern because the more you lose the people you rule, the more you become powerless.
Proprietors and headmasters of schools must note that when parents entrust the care of their children to them, they are obliged to keep them safe from every form of danger.
I think if adults live up to their responsibility of protecting children, the world will become a better place.
Teachers must note and deal with the dangers in the school environment and ensure that schoolchildren are protected from getting close to such places.