- Employer absconds after flying him to Ghana for spine surgery
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| Moses Negbe, in his hospital bed with hopelessness written on his face |
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| Moses in his confinement in his narrow bed at the Narh Bita Hospital, Tema |
Presently,
his post-surgical care and daily upkeep has turned a burden not only on the
facility but the nurses on the ward whose contributions put food on the table
for both patient and his nephew, Johnny Johnson, who accompanied him to Ghana
for the treatment.
Negbe
was brought to the facility by his employer, GMI after an accident on August
31, 2015 at a port in Liberia which left him with complicated multiple spine
injury.
According
to sources, Negbe who could hardly talk or move any part of his body, was
working in the port when a log fell from a crane and crushed his colleague to
death, leaving him (Negbe) in a critical condition.
The
source indicated that he was first rushed to the JFK Medical Centre in Monrovia
where he spent forty days but had to be flown out of the country due to the
complexity of the injury and the need for a specialist attention which was not
readily available in the country.
In a
separate interview with his nephew, Johnson indicated that GMI arranged for
Negbe’s transfer from the hospital in Liberia and made an initial payment for
the surgery with a promise to provide for their upkeep while on admission here
in Ghana as well as their return back to Liberia after treatment.
Two
weeks after their arrival, the company cut communication with them and all
efforts to reach them including calls to the Field Agent, one Joe Sayahway who
is the lead contact to the company, has yielded no result.
Realising
the difficulty in which his patient finds himself, one Dr. Andrew, who is said
to have performed the surgery, drew the attention of the Liberian Embassy to
the plight of their national (in the hope that an intervention would be made to
call Negbe’s employer to order). According to Johnson, the embassy, made a
quick follow up to ascertain the veracity of the complaint but no further steps
were taken thereafter.
Johnson
indicated that he personally visited the embassy twice but he would not be
embraced by the latter. “This is a private affair which the Embassy cannot
address”, he quoted an official of the Embassy as saying.
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| Will fortune ever smile at me? That seems to be the question on Moses' mind |
Dr.
Catherine Larko Narh-Menkah, Deputy Medical Director of the hospital described
the situation as appalling and wondered why the embassy was proving reluctant
in stepping into an important issue of this nature. “We are writing to them as a
final measure to get them to assist at least in repatriating their national. We
may have to advise ourselves if nothing positive comes up from that point”.
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| The Mirror, Friday December 18, 2015 |
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| The editorial of the newspaper on the day |
-Ends-
