Girl Needs Public Support To Survive

Paralysed little Tawiah Abbeyquaye

An eight-year-old girl at Atiankama Nkwanta in the Birim Central Municipality who was knocked down by a taxi driver during a funeral procession in the community urgently needs public support to survive.

The girl, Tawiah Abbeyquaye, is paralysed and has been neglected by her parents, who have left her with her 72-year-old paternal grandmother who unfortunately lives on charity at the village.

The victim, is fed with only very light porridge and soup. To save the victim’s life, her grandmother, Madam Abena Abbeyquaye, a native of Awutu Bereku, has made a passionate appeal to philanthropists, organisations and well-to-do individuals for financial assistance to enable her to send her granddaughter to the 37 Military Hospital where she has been referred for treatment.

What is distressing about the girl’s plight is that both her 30-year-old mother, Madam Akosua Anima, and her father, Kwaku Abbeyquaye, also aged 30, who are divorced, have abandoned her since she had the accident on February 20, this year because they claim they have no money to meet the medical obligations.

Narrating the pathetic story to the this reporter who visited the victim at Atiankama Nkwanta last Sunday, Madam Abbeyquaye, who was in tears, said on February 20, this year, there was a funeral for a driver/executive member of the Atiankama Nkwanta local branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU).

She said many drivers in the municipality attended the funeral and displayed their skills in driving, tooting their horns loudly, which attracted many people to the scene.

Madam Abbeyquaye said while displaying, one of the drivers, who was driving taxi with registration number GT 587 V, hit little Tawiah, who was among the people standing by the roadside watching the display.

She said the victim, who sustained serious head and leg injuries, was rushed to the Oda Government Hospital where she was admitted for three weeks.

According to Madam Abbeyquaye, the medical officer attending to the victim referred her to the 37 Military Hospital in Accra for head surgery but as the relatives had no money to send her to that facility, they sent her home, where she had been in near coma for six months now.

When the victim’s father, Mr Abbeyquaye, was contacted at Nkwanta for his reason for not catering for the victim, who is the second of his two daughters, he said “I can’t afford the hospital expenses at the 37 Military Hospital because I’m not in gainful employment”.

When this writer contacted the girl’s mother, Madam Anima, at Akyem Manso, about 10 kilometres from Atiankama Nkwanta, where she is staying with her new husband, she cited extreme poverty as the reason for leaving the girl with her grandmother.

Madam Anima’s 48-year-old mother, Madam Asi Ampomaa, also told the Daily Graphic at Manso that she could not offer any financial assistance towards the victim’s healthcare because she was also living from hand-to-mouth.

When this writer contacted the driver of the Kia Pride taxi, Samuel Botwe whose car knocked the girl, he said he had advised the victim’s relatives to follow the due process of claiming insurance since the vehicle had valid documents and insurance cover.

The Oda Divisional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Magnus Sam, told the Daily Graphic that he was not the officer in charge at the time of the accident.

He said since he took over from the former commander, Deputy Superintendent Yakubu Ayamgah, on September 9, this year, he had taken pains to study the docket on the case and realised that the little girl’s case was not only serious, but also very pathetic.

Therefore, he said he had sent the investigator of the case to Atiankama Nkwanta to find out how the girl was faring and brief him on her condition.

ASP Sam added that he had, however invited the driver who was granted police inquiry bail by his predecessor, and asked him to appear before court tomorrow, September 25, this year.

When this writer contacted the Regional MTTU Commander, Superintendent James Safo-Peprah at Koforidua he said he had just heard about the case and had, therefore, called for the docket on it so that the necessary action would be taken, in view of the seriousness of the case and the plight of the little girl.

Meanwhile, the chief of Atiankama Nkwaanta, Nana Ofosu Appiah II, has also made a passionate appeal to benevolent organisations and philanthropic individuals to help save the life of the girl by providing financial assistance to meet her medical expenses.

Author : Samuel Kyei-Boateng