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07.06.2023 Feature Article

In Memory of my late partner Debs Bediako

Litterboxes destroy Ghana's future
In Memory of my late partner Debs Bediako
07.06.2023 LISTEN

Whites have been blamed for many atrocities in Africa and often quite rightly so. When on June 3rd, 2015 one hundred and fifty innocent lives at the Circle in Accra, Ghana were lost including my partner Debs Bediako, Bediako Brothers Pharmacy behind GOIL Petrol Station former President of Ghana JD Mahama promised swift help for all affected and justice for the victims.

On that fatal night heavy rains had flooded Accra as many times before without any intervention undertaken. While I had left my office inside the pharmacy at 1 pm with lawyer Stephen Amegee, cousin of the late President of Ghana JJ Rawlings after we had discussed ways to retrieve our $ 25 Mio. stolen by Mr. Okoro, car manager of JD Mahama at Castle Osu, ending the death threats against us partners (Ibrahim Mahama used part of the money to buy his airplane) by 7 pm Debs Bediako drowned in the water. Behind the structures was a Cafe. Someone put out his cigarette by dumping it into the water. Little did the people covering for shelter at the GOIL petrol station knew the water under their feet carried oil from the leaking underground tanks. The explosion took many innocent lives. The river at the Circle was blocked by refuse for the water unable to flow.

My partner got a state funeral with 4000 people in attendance including Stephen Appiah, and Ernest Sarpong from Ernest Chemist, his uncle. At Osu cemetery, only close family members oversaw the burial. His young shop assistant stood surprisingly beside me. His arms were all in plaster his face was burnt. He did report back to me that the promises JD Mahama made at least for him were never true.

Eight years, like the 2012 Melcom disaster, no responsible person or institution ever faced the justice system. No victim got full compensation as promised.

Blocked gutters and water bodies, illegal structures blocking the flow of water...no litter boxes in public spaces. Zoomlion is unable to handle the waste of Ghana properly, Lavenda Hill and its borehole human waste...please tell us, white people, how we should be made responsible for the ignorance and mismanagement of this serious issue? People urinate in public anywhere due to a lack of toilets and education causing malaria, cholera, and death.

In close to six years of living in Ghana, I never came across any litterbox in public spaces. Ghanaians tell me they would get stolen or destroyed once put up. Is this my responsibility or a problem as a white man?

"I tell you a story, Mr. Karl. I arrived at Kotoka Airport in Accra. I saw a white and a black girl. The black girl asked the white girl to dump her empty water bottle on the ground as she did being of no use anymore. The white girl refused the idea and said she was not trained like that. In her society, people respect and protect the environment. Above all recycling is big business. The black girl felt that she had been insulted. Now, Mr. Karl, I know all about my country and its people. That is how we are."

Fast forward: Can anyone advise us whites of how many litter boxes today in public spaces Ghana is providing for the nation? Much appreciated.

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