It was behind a commuter bus, “tro-tro” as we call them, that I once read in the Twi language, the saying, “Afe bi ye esan”. Literary translated, it means that some year can be a bane. 2012 is such a year in my assessment.
A lot of humbling happenings have occurred this year but some surpass others. Last week indeed brought the saying alive as I begun to reflect on some heart breaking news, with that of the black Wednesday, November 7, 2012, crowing them all. I am referring to the flattening of the Melcom stores complex at Achimota.
Just as I was coming round from a temporary paralysis that hit me concerning a friend’s sudden and shocking death, I received the news of another devastating death coming in the way of a very tragic family. Anyone remember the disappearance of little Kwabena Agyei-Henaku sometime last year? Well, Kwabena’s mother has been reported dead. What? Yes, a joy that was awaiting the family turned tragic for them.
As readers might recall, last year, two and-a- half year old Kwabena’s routine pick up from school by the family taxi driver turned harrowing when the taxi driver disappeared with the little boy. The boy has since not been found.
The arcane disappearance of the little boy affectionately called Kuuku has challenged everyone’s thinking and still chills me to the bone when I remember the events of that day as told me by the police. At the time the boy disappeared, he was staying with his grandmother.
The parents were working out of town so during the week, the boy stays with the grandmother until the parents get into town on week-ends. That grandma who must have gone through the biggest trauma of her life and questioned why this would have happened to her grandchild died a few months after the boy disappeared. She must have lived with numbing pain and sorrow.
I have truly developed interest in the Agyei-Henaku family tragedy, praying and hoping that one day a surprise would be sprung on them. Only last week, another tragedy befell the family. I heard from a reliable source that the mother of the little boy had passed on when she had gone to the hospital to have her second child. The mother did not survive to see the baby boy who perhaps was going to give her some kind of relief and comfort, perhaps, a replacement for her missing Kuuku. As fate would have it, it was not to be. The baby survived all right but alas, not the mother. Indeed, “afe bi ye esan”.
How can one ever explain such circumstances? Does life make much meaning with successive unfortunate incidences happening to a young family in a spate of one year? It takes an unshakable faith to be able to go through anything like that.
And how about the case of the collapse of the Melcom shopping complex at Achimota in Accra? Many were those who left home that morning hugging their loved ones with the usual greeting, “see you tonight”. Others probably rushed out to catch their buses without any breakfast because they were running late, hoping to catch breakfast later at work. Others begrudgingly reported for work even though they felt unwell.
At work, some gathered together at the ground floor of the building having their usual morning devotion, committing their day into God’s care before they started work. Alas, all their plans, wishes and expectations came to an abrupt end. Their darkest day came within hours after reaching the shop that morning. While some met their death, others who survived would live with the trauma for the rest of their lives.
I was personally saddened with the news. Melcom has somehow been a shop that I visit a lot because they do stock a variety of everyday household items and cleaning stuff at reasonable prices. I also like the way they have been consistent with decentralization and creating jobs for local people.
From when Melcom first set up shop at the Opera Square in Accra, it became a regular lunch time walking experience for me. Then came the Adabraka branch which I used a few times. Then appeared the Dansoman branch, my own backyard stop where some of the staff know me as a loyal shopper.
I have stopped also at the Spintex Road branch a few times when something I have been looking for at my local branch went out of stock. The hyped publicity with the opening of the Melcom-Plus in North Kaneshie attracted my attention and I do check it out every now and then. Indeed I pass through Melcom anytime I happen to be in an area where there is a branch as I did with their Teshie store when I went to do a story on designer coffins at Teshie-Nungua and then the Kumasi branch when I visited earlier this year.
Unfortunately, I never made it to Achimota, maybe it is because of the road construction which drove me crazy when I attempted to visit a friend at Tantra Hill sometime ago. Since then, I swore never to go that direction again and have since tried to navigate my way looking for other alternative routes when I had had to go to some other part of Achimota. The impact of the devastation last Wednesday left me crushed. I tried to imagine it happen at my local branch of Melcom. The numerous friends I have made in that local shop and the convenience of a well stocked shop so close by would all have been my personal loss.
I have followed closely the live television reports from the disaster scene since day one. I have seen the graphic pictures of the rescued, those still being rescued and the dead being pulled out. Floor by floor, I have watched the rescue team lifting concrete, digging holes to let in air, searching for lives with so much passion and care. The frailty of life has been unfolded live.
I have been deeply touched by the efforts of all those who have risked their lives to save as many people as possible. The passion, the professionalism, the love and care of all has contributed to minimizing the loss of lives. Even though one single life lost is regrettable, the impact of the collapse is such that things could have been worse and many more then the reported 14 lives could have been lost.
But perhaps, in times of such deep crises, the reaction of management counts a lot. I have been deeply touched by the immediacy and content of the “Crises News Release” (even though they did not accord any heading to it) of the Melcom Group signed by its Chairman, Bhagwan Khubchandani and published in the press. The release shows a Company in deep state of shock, regret and mourning. The Company should try and carry through, the deep sense of care and the faith expressed in the release.
It has been a hard road to have travelled, no doubt about that. The lessons gathered by the management from the crises should guide them through operational comprehensive safety and crises management strategies. They have made good the concept of decentralization, brought admirable and convenient shopping to the door steps of local communities and created thousands of jobs for Ghanaians across the country. They cannot afford to throw away any goodwill.
To everyone who has suffered from this crippling Melcom disaster, to those who have lost dear ones, to the injured and the broken hearted, you are not alone with your grief. Ghana is with you and that is why the massive support throughout the week. Though life sometimes loses its meaning, what should sustain us is that we are not and will never be in it alone.