They chose a profession where they would be ready to lay down their lives for the country of their birth. Very determined to join that profession that will make them protect Ghana with their lives, damningany consequences, they charged into the stadium as if confronting an enemy. Ahead of them was a battle for employment.
In what looked like a disorganised and chaotic scene, at the El Wak stadium last week, should the Ghana Armed Forces be blamed? Is it possible that the number of applicants there exceeded the number that should have been there?
The military put out online application and hundreds of thousands of young Ghanaians applied. During this many were disqualified and here, what if some of those disqualified were well-connected and their god-parents told them to go to the El Wak all the same, because they have forwarded their names to the top? What should have been a few thousands, became tens of thousands.
And when the gates of the stadium were opened, instead of getting in gently and orderly, there was a rush to go and get a good place to sit. Then it happened. Just like any battlefield, the bold and the brave fell, and Ghana lost six beautiful young ladies.
Today, most people are blaming the military. But this has never happened before, so why now? Certainly, if the military had anticipated that huge number of applicants, it would have made better arrangements. Perhaps we need the Armed Forces to come out and tell us, how many applicants they were actually expecting.
Sadly, six beautiful young ladies fell on the day they were full of hope to sail through to the next stage and get closer to achieving their dreams of donning the Ghana military uniforms. Their death has revealed lapses in our society and we must make all efforts to prevent such a thing ever happening again.
No matter how we look at things, these young ladies were true heroes, who gave up their lives to help us identify what to fix in this country. They need to be honoured. I will suggest they are buried with full military honours.
In the Catholic Church, catechumens who are preparing to receive the sacrament of baptism, but die before that are buried with full requiem mass. It is so, because there is that intent to be Catholic.
So, I ask again, that with the strong intent to become military personnel, which these young ladies were fighting to be, and be able to defend this country with their lives, should they not be given military burial with full honours? Can they not be posthumously given the ranks they would have be gotten, if they were successful in their applications to join the Armed Forces?
I pray for their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed. May their souls be among the Elect in Heaven and may God console their parents, siblings and relatives.
As Christians we mourn the dead and pray for their souls. When Jesus Christ was killed on the Cross, His followers were traumatised and sorrow-stricken. Jesus’ death was ordained by God and He watched as His Only Begotten Son was tortured and killed by humans. During His passion, all the angels in Heaven were horrified and deeply angry at what was happening to their Lord and Master, and very ready to charge down to earth and discipline mankind.
They waited for the okay from God, but He knew why Christ must suffer and die, even as it was very painful to His love ones.
The NDC MP for Pusiga, Hon. Ayaamba Ayii Laadi, said her tribute to our fallen heroes and she was emphatic in saying that Allah had ordained that day for the young ladies to die and so nothing could be done about it. The way she put it, she was indirectly condemning those who were in mourning due to that loss and making them understand that they cannot change what Allah had ordained.
This is very bad and cruel. How can you mock and insult a family in mourning? Yes, I do agree that God allows things to happen, including death. There are still-births which depress the mothers. Their dreams of cuddling and nursing their babies never materialised and they deeply mourn. Then there are deaths of children, who just completed SHS or their first degree with flying colours. Yes, God allowed it, but the families will be in deep sorrow and they must be consoled and certainly not with these words Hon. Laadi said.
Spouses wave good-bye to each other as they set off for work, only for one not returning. He or she is dead after having said what was the final goodbye. Families mourn and Hon. Laadi is suggesting that they should be condemned for that?
When the eight gentlemen; two ministers of state, three government officials and three air force personnel died in the helicopter crash, why did Hon. Ayaamba Ayii Laadi not make the statement she made last week and condemn even President Mahama for mourning?
Yes, God allowed the death of the six fallen heroes to happen and it is our responsibility to mourn them and console their family. A true and genuine last post should be sounded when they are being buried, to honour their memories.
Hon. Daniel Dugan
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.
For more news, join The Chronicle Newspaper channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBSs55E50UqNPvSOm2z
