Editorial
Make banking easy, flexible for all
Dear Editor,
Please permit me through your space to engage the various banks in the country about their operations and how their quest to digitalise have left a few of their customers exposed to activities of fraudsters.
I feel that in their bid to fully embrace Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), a number of their customers have been left behind.
A number of this group are those that are not ICT inclined and people who are not lucky enough with formal education. These people donot know their way about some of the new trends in ICT.
I came into contact recently with a customer of a bank who had difficulties operating a new App he was ‘forced’ to download and use.
According to this ‘yam’ phone user who had to give his son pressure to buy him an android phone, so as it were he could browse and handle his bank issues conveniently at home, he has no idea as to how to navigate around this App.
In so doing, he engages people he trust to help him and in the process, he gave out every single detail supposed to be confidential.
The point I am trying to make is that much as we must all embrace technology, there are some people who would definitely be left behind, and with such people, there must be a way for the system to take care of them.
Imagine this man had employed the services of someone who is not genuine or trustworthy, the worst could happen to him.
So I want to appeal to the banks that much as they try to introduce some of these measures, there must still be a place for those who want to go about their banking activities the traditional way.
Maxwell Boye,
Accra
Dear Editor,
I WRITE to condemn the circumstances under which an accident victim died recently after three major hospitals reportedly turned him away due to what has earned a place in our local parlance as ‘no bed syndrome.’
Reports suggested that this motor rider who got knocked by a vehicle was taken to three major hospitals – Police Hospital, Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge Hospital), and the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital – but they all claimed they had no beds.
But one may ask, would there ever be beds?
Such is the treatment Ghanaians endure every now and then when one visits our hospitals, especially the public ones which are run with the taxpayers’ money. Many a time when one visits the hospitals, the sight of patients admitted and lying on benches, and some sitting on chairs while receiving care, is visible to all; making one wonder why this particular motor rider was not admitted at any of the facilities, looking at his condition.
This leads to the reason for this letter, which is to bring out a perceived apathy against these motor riders, the majority of whom are referred to as ‘Okada’ riders.
Due to their recklessness on the roads and the inconvenience caused to commuters, people always speak ill about them; drivers equally have no regard for them. Every user of public transport would attest to this. These riders are blamed for every offence, even when it is obvious drivers may be at fault sometimes.
Motor riders have become like orphans on the road; people care less about them, and when they are unfortunately knocked down, no one cares about them.
This is the mischief our authorities and agencies, including the police, must seek to cure to make the road safe for all users.
These are young folks that want to make a living for themselves, and with no skill or education, ‘Okada’ rides have become their source of livelihood. They need the protection accorded drivers and commuters as well.
In other countries, some facilities have been provided to make their work safer, but in Ghana, we lack them, leaving them with no alternative than to share the available space with the cars.
What has happened should serve as a wake-up call on our authorities to aim to take a second look at the ‘Okada’ menace. With the numbers increasing, there should be a way to regulate them because no government would have the guts to ban it totally.
Drivers should be made to accept the reality that they are sharing the roads with them, and therefore the need for patience and tolerance.
For some of our hospitals, I suggest the Ministry of Health conduct their own investigations to see what patients go through in accessing medicare, which is even not for free.
Thank you, Editor, for the space.
F. Morgan, Kokrobite
Dear Editor,
THE heartbreaking death of 29-year-old engineer Charles Amissah in a hit-and-run accident has exposed once again the failures in our health system.
Even more painful is the fact that his father had previously donated beds to some hospitals, yet when his son needed urgent care, he was moved from one facility to another because there were ‘no beds.’
This is not only tragic but unacceptable. How can a country lose its bright young citizens simply because hospitals cannot provide emergency treatment? The ‘no bed syndrome’ has become a national disgrace, and Charles’ death is a reminder that reforms cannot wait.
Our hospitals must be equipped to handle emergencies, and accountability must be enforced. If donations are made to improve facilities, then those facilities must serve the people when it matters most. Ghana cannot afford to keep losing lives to negligence and poor infrastructure.
Charles Amissah’s death should be the turning point. Let us honor his memory by fixing the system so that no family would suffer this kind of preventable loss again.
Princess Wonovi
Accra
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