What a sad week it has been - especially as news made the rounds of the involvement of the Russian Chief Justice, Vyacheslav Lebedev in a motor accident. Gauging from commentaries I’ve heard, this unfortunate event seems to have sent shivers down the spines of many as they hoped not only to see the CJ alive but to actually see him on his feet, brushing the affair aside and moving on with business as usual. This however was not to be. The responses after the accident were a mix of deep sympathy as human lives were involved and also a sense of nationalism (i.e. the very awareness that the worst was something the country could not afford to be associated with).
If we had to be on the global spotlight, it had to be for a good reason. And in between the feeling of sympathy and nationalism, was also a sense of anger as to how this could have happened but the how would be for the investigating bodies to dine over.
Owing to the state of affairs, the Chief Justice was airlifted out of the country by a Russian Emergency plane together with the other members of the delegation for medical treatment.
Aside the fact that we pride ourselves in being a hospitable country; the involvement of a high profile official from any country in an accident of the kind that we witnessed this week is enough to render sober the vilest of regimes (whatever that means) in the world today. And whoever was in charge in relaying the information and mediating between Ghana and Russia must have done a good job so as to avoid a diplomatic row - at least openly.
The Russian Chief Justice was the leader of a delegation who, amongst other things, was in the country to confer with the President, Parliamentary leadership and also sign some memorandum of understanding with the judiciary.
The manner in which this incident was handled is important because of our longstanding relationship with the Soviet Union, which has been split up now into a number of republics.
The USSR has been with us ever since we were a crawling nation being weaned after several years of colonial dependence and association. This hitherto huge landmass of a country had been the fountain of socialism from which most political and ideological groupings derived their origin and inspiration.
The Soviet Union played a key role in providing Ghana with the necessary skills and manpower to develop its nascent economy. Thus there were scores of Ghanaians who were given the opportunity to travel there not only to study in the fields of engineering and medicine but also import some of their technology.
When the times got tough as well, past regimes were quick to fall on the Soviet Union- sometimes unsuccessfully in the case of the Provisional National Defence Council.
Thus, in the era where the socialist fervour was at its apogee, Soviet heroes were equally Ghanaian heroes. As a result, they were given equally warm treatment as they would have received back home. For this, one example comes to mind.
Back in 1964, the newspapers were flooded with images of an important Russian personality who was on a state visit to Ghana. She was Valentina Nikolayeva-Tereshkova - the first lady to fly into space. In the Soviet scheme of things, she was more than an ordinary Russian cosmonaut.
Starting life as a factory assembly worker and also as an amateur skydiver, she was picked then apparently on the orders of then Russian President to be the first woman to go into space. Her space adventure was for a period of three days.
She later carved a career for herself in politics by becoming a member of the communist party and a Member of Parliament.
As noted earlier, her visit to Ghana was more than the visit of a woman privileged to have been the first lady to go to space. It was a demonstration of the close linkage that the then Soviet Union had with Ghana.
At the airport on her arrival, she was unsurprisingly flanked by members of the national council of women as she represented to them all the ideals that a woman could strive to live up to- even in space.
She was given a national honour award, the citation of which contained the following words “...by her bravery, endurance and exemplary courage as the first woman astronaut.” She of course had a smooth stay and left on a positive note.
There is no doubt that there would have been some ceremonial activities as well as the exchange of nice words between the state and visiting Chief Justice. Unfortunately, one fine Ghanaian moment seems to have passed us by. But this event should certainly cause us to rethink our protocol arrangements so as to ensure maximum security for all visiting dignitaries.
It is a sad isolated page but nevertheless we ought not to lose sight of the lessons it presents us with.
By Samuel Alesu-Dordzi/The Mirror/Ghana
Email:
