Murder At The Wa Municipal Hospital: Who Killed Shahid? 

The death of little Shahid caused by the growing act of unprofessionalism, lack of humanity, and gross unreasonable conduct of some health professionals in the Wa Municipal hospital cannot be swept under the carpet.

We the good people of Wa deserve better and some of us have chosen the path to prompt stakeholders and or duty barriers to wake up from their slumber and act decisively. I am a young father and the love of a child cannot be felt and replaced with any wealthy thing on earth. So for health professionals at the so-called referral facility allow a four-year-old boy who was full of life to die from a snake bite based on their act of negligence for not providing the needed health care. They should not be forgiven!

The proactive response to get a committee set to investigate and to report the findings and recommendations of the incidence have made a lot of people to remained silent and wait for the outcome of the report. Though the committee has done and a great job and the report is out and high confidential, my outfit can assure the public that, I have obtained the true copy of the reports and the committee work represent largely the happenings as was purported.

Worryingly, no serious commitment and communique has been issued by the hospital management and the Ghana Health Service on action taken or initiated so far. We have lost Shahid in a painful manner, no matter what we do can bring him back to life. However, we have a duty to honour his soul by getting justice for him.

In reference to the committee's report, some health workers must be dealt with for not been at the post to performed their duties and others have also been cited for not treating the case as emergency. The reports further revealed that the Wa Municipal hospital has in stock 27 anti-snake serum and due to negligence and unprofessionalism their actions have led to the death of little Shahid. If this is not a murder act, who best can you describe the death?

I must express my disappointment in the family of little Shahid for being too quiet and slow in demanding justice for their lost son. We all need to seize this opportunity to demand quality and professional service from the Wa Municipal hospital. It would be glorifying to influence change and your name would be in scripted in the history book, rather than compromise family name and integrity. I know the family has noblemen, women, and high intellectuals that would not bow to political pressure to settle the matter as just a mere case. The conduct of the Wa Municipal hospital should not be forgiving.

I wish in the coming days to see the family sue the Wa Municipal hospital for the death of Shahid. We must come together as a people and support the cause of justice and quality service. The slogan of ‘we are one people’ is heightening indiscipline in our society and this behaviour must stop. We cannot continue to concealed crime and unprofessionalism.

While we await any tangible actions from family to put pressure on authorities to act, we need answers to these questions;

1. Why hasn’t justice been served to little Shahid?
2. Is the family of little Shahid been compromised after many visits by some authorities?
3. Why hasn’t the family sued the Wa Municipal Hospital?
4. Why have the Ghana Health Service failed to act on the committee's report and recommendations?
5. Are authorities saying little children life don’t matter?
6. How many lives have the Wa Municipal hospital might have wasted that we are not aware of?

On the role of the in charge at the Bole CHPS it does appear from the committees reports that, his capacity and professional training, especially prescriptions are high questionable. The Ghana Health Service must as a matter of urgency address these concerns before another tragedy result from exacerbating peoples’ conditions. It is a pity and a shame that, some health workers’ misconducts and lack of pride in their chosen profession is becoming synonymous to the Upper West Region. This rot must stop.

What amazed me at times is why some other Districts Hospitals or major hospitals in the Upper West Region not reporting needless acts of impunity, unlike the Wa Municipal hospital? Why is Wa Municipal hospital fast becoming unattractive?

From allegations of poor administrative management to the unsanitary environment with overgrowth of weeds; from maternal issues to difficulty in obtaining blood; from unnecessary delay to the frustrations of some health workers conducts, the hospital has lost its integrity and some CHPS compounds are now even best preferred than going to the Wa Municipal hospital for maternity.

We must continue the campaign to demand justice for Shahid who died in 9^th November 2019 causing by health professionals who don’t value the life our ordinary people. We must all stand against impunity and negligence.

#Justice4Shahid

Author; Tahiru Lukman

Youth Activist, Dev’t Consultant & Pan- African Author

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 0209154057 / 0551018778