Enact a law on acid sale, attacks on people

The acid attack that led to the sudden death of Alhaji Adam Mahama, the Upper East Regional chairman of New Patriotic Party (NPP) has created tension throughout the country.

People from all walks of life and across the political divide have condemned the barbaric act that led to the death of Adam Mahama. In fact the NPP was so shaken by the death of their regional chairman that it nearly divided them on who were those within the party were responsible for the sad incident. Tension in the party seems to have died down following the intervention of the leader and presidential candidate of the party Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo who called for truce between feuding factions in the party. Some said his action was late in coming but I believe it was timely for he managed to get everybody who matter to stop the verbal exchanges and to ceasefire. The fact that President John Mahama has vowed to get to the bottom of the matter by bringing the perpetrators to book in no time means a lot. Ghana has now proved to the world that it has leaders within and outside of NPP like President Kufuor , Kwame Pianim Economist and Ambassador K. B Asante who are capable of getting Ghana to work together in peace. Yes all these people added their voices to the need for members of NPP to end the conflicts and close their ranks.

In fact the processes leading to the death of Adam Mahama has brought fear in many people to the extent that soepeople are calling for ways of stopping people from using acid to maim or kill people. Yes acid is fast becoming a cheap weapon of human destruction by sick minds.

Madam Eva Lokko the former Director of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) in the 2012 general election has called for a law to regulate the purchase, sale and ownership of acid . She explained that such a law when passed and implemented could regulate the use of the chemical substance to reduce the increasing number of acid attacks on individuals who in most cases lose their lives or become incapacitated.

Apart from late Adam Mahama many people in Ghana and the world over have over the years either suffered from acid attacks from criminals or their spouses leading to them being disfigured or dying from it. Acid is a chemical sold to people cheaply to be used in powering car batteries or for polishing gold worldwide. As a result of its misuse by criminals and jealous spouses there is the need for the government to do everything possible to control its sale to members of the public.

For a start the government must lunch a program to sensitize people on uses of acid and its hazardous nature to our skins. Doctors, the law enforcement agencies must be involved in this program not only to emphasize on the dangers of wrongful use of acid but the need to enact a law to control the sale of the substance to members of the public. The media must be roped in to educate people on the issue. Ghana would not be the only nation pushing for legislations to check the use of acids to kill and maim people. India, Pakistan and some European countries have already enacted laws of wrongful acid sale and use of acids. The time has come for Ghana to act now with the help of the people who must press for it through demonstrations and parliament who must do well to pass the law on acid urgently

Executive Director
EANFOWORLD FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

0244 370345/ 0264370345/0208844791 [email protected]/[email protected]