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I was sad, yes very sad. The only people who probably were sadder than I was at that moment were the wife, children and associate of Dr. Sulley Ali Gabass, the senior medical doctor who was sentenced on Mondayto a 25-year jail term for defilement (sodomy), a crime you would least expect a man his status and training committing.

As a doctor of no mean standing, the medical implication of sodomising a 16 year old boy cannot be lost on him, even if he chose to close his eyes on the consequences of his action on himself.

When I heard the news of his sentence, I cringed and said to myself, “This must be the work of some supernatural forces”. Witches (or wizards, if you like) must really exist; only theycan take away the conscience of a seemingly noble personalitylike Dr. Gabassto want to stoop to that disgraceful depth without a reflection on what the ripples of the actions could be.

For the next 25 years, the very man on whom his family and the state spent money to train as a medical doctor to heal the sick will waste away in confinement in our stinking, overcrowded and mosquito-infested prisons, leaving his close associates in pain and with a lifetime stigma.

As for his victim, it goes beyond stigma and pain to the feeling of hopelessness at the hands of a dreaded condition such as HIV, which he was diagnosed of in the aftermath of the unhealthy amorous adventure.

What could have moved this man to settle for satisfaction in the anal passage (just to avoid sounding blunt)of his fellow male? What is it that he couldn’t find in women and his wife, for that matter, with whom he could have done same or similar thing if they so desired?Is that to say God, the creator of man and of the universe, was not wise enough to have paired man and woman instead of man to man and woman to woman as is now fast becoming the taste of many?.

A PEEP INTO THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
But come to think of it why don’t animals of same sex mate? Why are theynot attracted to each other? Even animals of lesser cognition are not stooping that low, so why man endowed higher cognitive ability and common sense? Even in basic science, we are told like poles repel while unlike poles attract, so why the deviation?

ISSUES OF LAW AND THE LAY MAN’S ANALYSIS

I am not a lawyer (at least not yet) and don’t claim to be one; I am only doing my analysis based on my two-by-four appreciation of the law and understanding of the chain of stories that came with Dr. Gabass’ act of sexual indiscretion.

So on Monday, this nice, decent and fresh-looking man, a senior medical doctor with the EffiaNkwanta hospital was handed the maximum jail term for his type of crime (defilement/sodomy) to among others, punish him for his act of carelessness and to deter persons with who might want to toe same or similar lane.

I wondered how a man with his kind of expertise (limited as they are in Ghana) should be made to rot in jail but then, I realised the very laws with which we govern our society (Ghana), would not permit otherwise. In Ghana, our statute books have no provision for non-custodial sentence- so I hear-which otherwise would have allowed for Dr.Gabass toserve mother Ghana “more profitably” even while still serving his sentence.
If a man his age(mid-forties)is to languish in jail for the next twenty five years, by simple arithmetic, he will be retiring while still in prison. In a country with a disgraceful and substandard doctor-to-patient ratio in our hospital, I am tempted to suggest that he is made to serve inthe remotest of our villages as a form or part of his punishment, may be under some surveillance or that he works for half or one third the salary he otherwise deserves for some reasonable period? The argument is that “law is law” and must be treated as such, even if seemingly better alternatives are emerging which are not yet covered in law.

Ok so now that he is finally in prison, I am also tempted to suggest that he is turned into a resident doctor in the prison yard to serve his colleague but with restricted movement? May be what we should first do is to convince ourselves that he is first and foremost mentally sound and that together with some deep counseling should turn him into a useful convict. Or as usual, this is a matter of law and it must be applied to the latter without discrimination in order to give meaning to the concept/phrase- equality before the law?

I thought laws were made for man and not man for laws.Is it not time for us to revisitthat aspect of the laws to make room for options that will prove more beneficial to the community and mother Ghana, particularly when our never-expanding prisons are bursting with convicts with attendant high cost of feeding and upkeep.

GO SODOMIZE FOR FREE FOR THE NEXT 25 YEARS

Another reason why a non-custodial sentence is worth considering in instances like this is that, we are dealing with the same man who was convicted for “sodomy” and yet for the next 25 years he is going to be locked in the dark room with of his taste, (males) all of whom have had and would have to bottle up their sexual feelings, and yet he is expected to tame the very hormones that caused him to seek, rather perilously, libidinousecstasy in that young boy’s “arsehole”, unless of course we agree that all those in there are misfits (criminals, if you like), who should be left to do whatever they wish to themselves.

Or are we going to lock him up with the females whom he seems not to be interested in? Sarcastic but legitimate question,I believe. May be he will have his one-in-one cubicle just so he doesn’t end up visiting his “penile recklessness” on others once more.

I believe in cracking the whip and also in the concept of “equality before the law”. Much the same way, I also believe in the saying that “laws are made for man and not man for laws” for which reason they must work in the best interest of mankind. At this point, what will best serve the interest of the state-his stay behind bars or a more judicious use of his expertise? Let us toss the options around and see which one proves more forward-looking.

While we are at it, I pray Dr.Garbass will reflect on his action, show some remorse, sincerely ask God (Allah) for forgiveness and hope for a second chance to do something better with his life.