By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), April 20, GNA – Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister, broke his convey protocol and saved the life of a four-year-old child who was involved in an accident.
The minister was returning from Jirapa where he performed an official duty when he chanced on the accident scene on the Wa Insurance Road and stopped his convoy to attend to the accident victim to the amazement of the many people and on-lookers at the scene.
Narrating the incident to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Cletus Awuni, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council, said Fatawu Ibrahim, the accident victim from Dondoli, a suburb of Wa, was returning from school and was knocked down by a motorbike while he was trying to cross the road.
“The motor rider who hit the boy could not offer much help until the Minister and his entourage who were returning from Jirapa where he commissioned the new edifice of the Jirapa Traditional Council, arrived.
Dr Salih stopped his vehicle and rushed the little boy to the hospital immediately for treatment. The Minister was at the hospital for close to an hour to ensure that the boy was given good medical care before he left for the office,” he said.
Mr Awuni said the Minister, before leaving the hospital, left the little boy under the care of the Upper West Regional Director of Education, Mr Razak Abdul-Korah who also visited the hospital later.
He told the GNA that people around the accident scene tried to shield the motor rider when the Minister enquired to know him.
“The initial response to the Minister’s question from the people around the accident scene was that the motor rider had left meanwhile the young man was standing with them.
“After several questionings, the gentleman owned up and was arrested, the PRO said.
Meanwhile, Mr Abdul-Korah said the boy’s parents were finally traced and contacted and that the boy had since been discharged from the hospital and was doing well.
Some of the people at the accident scene praised the minister for having compassion for mankind.
They said it was rare for a minister to stop his convey to attend to accident victims let alone conveying them to the hospital.
GNA