EDITORIAL: Case Closed!

Georgina Akwele Pipson is dead and gone, thus ending a tragic story which shook a nation. The pictures of the kids she poisoned presented a melancholic spectacle on the pages of newspapers which featured them. Many could not help questioning why things went the way they did. Could the system have obviated the tragic development, especially against the backdrop of the deceased�s psychiatric record at Pantang? The standard procedure under such circumstances is to deny access to the children by such a mentally-challenged mother. In fact, the kids could have even been handed over to the Social Welfare under an ideal situation or a close family member. This way, the children could have been protected from any untoward action by their mother. We would have expected the Pantang authorities to liaise with the family of deceased in the direction of the care and protection of the children, given that the deceased was mentally unfit to discharge such a responsibility. If the authorities at Pantang can be exonerated eventually, given prevailing circumstances, such cannot be extended to the immediate family of the deceased. The family denied the former husband knowledge about the true mental status of the deceased, reasons for which are beyond our ken. Suffice it to state that a blunder has been committed by so doing and the whole society is the loser, especially the immediate family. It is interesting and painful learning about the remorsefulness of the deceased�s husband, especially his revelation that had he known about the mental status of the deceased, he would have done things differently. Her inability to keep the home spick and span among other things emanated from her mental state which he could have overlooked. Members of the immediate families of both the deceased and her former husband�s should have had more interest in their son and daughter. That is not to call for undue interference in their marital affairs. It took the intervention of a female cop to have the couple separate as a therapy to their troubles. Just being our brothers� keepers to a limited degree is enough to obviate such tragic endings. Why did the family allow the deceased to live all alone in the house left behind by her late father? Did the family head not deem it necessary to have a close relation live with the late Akweley in that house? Something went wrong along the line and our hearts bleed that things went the way they did, especially the wasted lives of the kids. Even the death of the deceased is something which could have been avoided if all concerned acted fast. Many expected that the woman would eventually commit suicide, given the gravity of what she had gone through. We think that she suffered bouts of depression which the observant and concerned family member could have determined and taken action in respect of. The father of the kids himself needs adequate counseling support at this time of wanton and rare grief. It is gratifying to learn that some of his siblings are at hand to support him weather the storm in which he finds himself. We think that he needs professional support which the deceased failed to get and ended up the way she did, alongside the innocent children. We join thousands of Ghanaians in praying for the peaceful rest of the souls of the kids and their mother.