Helicopter Crash: Creating Fund For Children of Victims Isn’t Sustainable- PNP

The People’s National Party (PNP) has characterised as unsustainable, the government’s decision to create a Fund for the children of victims of the August 6 helicopter crash in the Ashanti Region.

It explained that a fund could deplete, discontinue or be politicised.

“It risks becoming a token gesture that fades away with time. The PNP, therefore, firmly rejects the creation of a temporary fund as the sole measure of support,” Janet Asana Nabla, the Chairperson of the PNP, said in a statement.

She instead suggested the passage of the National Heroes Dependants Protection Act.

This, she said, must be a permanent, state-backed welfare system enshrined in law, funded through the Consolidated Fund, and administered under the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection.

According to her, this legislation must provide a monthly salary-style stipend to the widows to cater for the children and, in some cases, the parents of the deceased who have no other children for support.

It must also guarantee that such benefits are not politicised and remain consistent regardless of which party forms the government; Ensure that the children of the deceased are supported through their education, and upon completion of tertiary studies, are given priority employment opportunities within the public sector; and Ensure full transparency and accountability so the system is never misused as a conduit for siphoning money from the state purse.

“This is not charity, it is a solemn duty. Those who gave their lives in service to Ghana paid the ultimate price. Their families must not be left vulnerable to the changing winds of politics or the exhaustion of public sympathy.

“A strong, permanent legislative framework is the only way to ensure that the debt we owe them is honoured not for a few years, but for generations to come.”

Source: https://opemsuo.com/author/hajara-fuseini/