Over the past two weeks, our nation has witnessed some of the most emotionally sapping moments in our recent history. Sixteen innocent schools children on a religious trip had their lives truncated by the recklessness of a Truck Driver and a whole community was thrown into mourning. The sight of their mass grave was enough to soften even the hardest soul.

Barely had the graphic images of the school kids erased from our memories before we were hit again by the publication of another gory accident involving two vehicles in the Eastern region which claimed another 15 lives. As if that was not enough, only last week our entire nation was moved to tears by the gory spectacle of a helicopter crash that took the lives of two Cabinet Ministers, two former Regional Ministers a former Parliamentary candidate and three serving military officers.

The latest accident threw up rare and painful sights indeed. For the first time in many years we witnessed the emotional breakdown of our President, the Vice President, the First Lady, the Chief of Staff, the ever strong NDC Chairman, Asiedu Nketia and several Ministers of state and appointees in the full glare of national and international cameras as they came to terms with the pain of losing some of our brightest and distinguished public servants.

I dare say that not even when we lost our most popular Ghanaian political leader in contemporary times, Jerry John Rawlings or our Asomdweehene, President JEA Mills did we see such expression of emotional pain publicly. Perhaps it is on account of the manner in which the 8 gallant men died, but more than that, it could also be because of the general recognition that the individuals in question exemplified some level of integrity and uncommon public spiritedness which are worthy of emulation.

The tragedy has occurred and we must brace ourselves and move on, but not without learning lessons and acting in ways that will not betray our compatriots and render their death useless to our nation-building efforts. The nation is mourning, but 32 paternal and maternal families have been devastated directly by the death of these gallant men. Surely lessons must be learnt from this.

It would be a real tragedy if after painfully burying our dear friends and compatriots, we allow people appointed to positions of trust to descend into the abyss of political sleeze and graft and enrich themselves as the expense of the masses.

It will be tragic if His Excellency President John Mahama allows whoever will fill the vacant positions of Dr Edward Omane Boama, Alhaji Dr Mohammed Murtala and Alhaji Muniru Mohammed to offer Ghanaians anything less than the integrity and honesty they served the nation with. The President should not be in a hurry to fill these vacancies because the standards set by the departed souls are high indeed. Those going there may not possess the academic qualifications, but the least they can offer should be integrity, honesty and affable service to the nation.

Again, out of this national tragedy an opportunity has been given to every serving Minister and government appointee to reflect and reset their minds to serve with honesty and integrity and to realize that we are all but mere mortals. What happened to their colleagues, some of whom were better qualified than them both academically and intellectually could have happened to them.

Indeed, it is not by one’s skills of articulation or intelligence that makes them escape death on the roads that thousands ply daily or the planes that they board and travel to and fro. It is grace that has placed each of us where we find ourselves. Yes, you may have worked for the party to come to power, someone worked harder and others contributed more resources than you and yet they do not hold any appointed positions.

Particularly for those individuals who have personally or through their associates told the whole world how they escaped this tragedy on account of eleventh hour cancellations or variations in their agenda, they have been given a new lease of life to continue to live upright lives and serve God and humanity with sincerity. If upon self-introspection you realize that you have not been truthful to the people you serve and the nation, now is the time to do your own “Zacchaus” and repent for good. Come down from that tree of corruption, self-centeredness, political pride and invisibility and just be human.

The Revelation

Out of our national tragedy has emerged what I consider to be a great performance by the current Chief of Staff, Honorable Julius Debrah. The weekend before the current tragic incident, he had attended the funeral of two past stalwarts of the National Democratic Congress, the late Joseph Arday-Cooker and Sam pee-Yalley and been seen at other places. Yet moments after establishing that indeed the 8 gallant men on board the Air Force Helicopter had died in a crash, he summoned all the people he needed and the media and briefed the entire nation about what had happened. That is leadership.

He was quick to take charge and set the processes rolling at a time when HE President Mahama was emotionally in sixes and sevens. Tears were still rolling down uncontrollably from his eyes, but he still took the hard decisions to get the processes underway and so far, everything has been on point. I believe the international community is watching with admiration how the process is being managed under very trying circumstances.

Mr Debrah has proven so far to be the best choice President Mahama made in appointing him to the position. Two incidents in addition to his current handling of our tragedy bring me to that conclusion. First was his handling of Sammy Gyamfi’s unfortunate incident with the infamous Fetish-Prophetess Agradaa and how he quickly invited him over and rapped some political guiding “sense” into the young politician.

Second is how without much public fun-fare, he withdrew the appointment of a female appointee who had all too soon started showing signs of arrogance and insubordination to a senior colleague that she was supposed to report to by reassigning her. That is the way to go in governance if you expect positive results and clear alignment by appointees to the vision of the President. Not pussy-footing on issues of concern to the public and sweeping them under the rugs. If you fail to act decisively, you set yourself up for the voter to punish you and your shielded appointee.

As they say, those who fail to learn from their mistakes are condemned to repeat them. May we truly and sincerely learn from the ashes of the crashed Helicopter and the death of our compatriots and build something memorable and lasting from it for the betterment of our nation.