Let’s halt this avoidable tragedy
It appears we are more delighted in talking than in action. This negative attitude must not be acceptable, the least in matters concerning the protection and welfare of vulnerable children.
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Sometime in 2011, an Accra daily reported the chilling story of the drowning of a 10-year-old school girl in a container of water by her mother.
The story further stated that the mother, who was treated for mental condition, had earlier in 2009 drowned two of her children in a well.
Again, a few years ago, the nation was stunned by pictures in both the print and electronic media of four precious children said to have been poisoned to death by their mentally challenged mother. In this case, the mother ended it all by killing herself; leaving a suicide note behind. Probably, there are many such stories not reported.
But for a system failure, these sad incidents could have been prevented! It’s for good reasons that effective mental healthcare service delivery is linked to community psychiatry nursing services and both integrated into the activities of the Department of Social Welfare.
If this well-thought-out system were functional, one authority should have been responsible for monitoring the conditions of the mothers.
And while the mothers remained under surveillance and necessary reviews of their conditions; the other should have taken custody of the children or perhaps prompted some family members to do so for their safety.
Just recently another horrifying news broke out. A mother is said to have pierced the eyes of her five-year-old son with a broken plastic plate; rendering him totally blind. She was also alleged to have shown signs of ‘strange behaviour’.
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I wish to appeal to the relevant authorities to be very proactive in such matters.