Press release
This afternoon (Tuesday) a team from the Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice visited the Ndemban Clinic in Bakau to see the victims of the accident that occurred on Saturday January 4 in Kafuta. In fulfilling our role in ensuring transparency and accountability in society, we deemed it fitting to see firsthand the nature and conditions of the affected individuals, and the response they have received so far, as well as measures taken to ensure accountability for justice and to prevent a recurrence of such an incident.
At the clinic, we met and discussed with members of the Kafuta community overseeing the victims there. We have established that overall, 67 casualties suffered in the accident and already three persons have died. Currently 19 patients are at Ndemban receiving various medical treatments. We have noticed several young boys and girls between the ages of 8 to 16 with various injuries to their legs, arms, neck, eyes, and across the body.
While we have noted frantic efforts by the clinic staff to respond to the emergency, we have found that medical treatment has been slow for some because of limited personnel and poor medical resources at the clinic. Our observation shows that the clinic is hugely under-resourced with both human and medical drugs and equipment. The staff of the clinic are working under severe constraint.
As we continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the right to quality healthcare is provided to all patients at the clinic, we call on the Government to urgently address the resource challenges at Ndemban Clinic. Furthermore, we call on the Government to carry out an independent and impartial investigation as to the causes and circumstances of this unfortunate accident. This includes reviewing the way and manner the Police manage traffic, the functions of police checkpoints, and the quality of roads and vehicles in this country.
As this matter involves serious human rights issues, we call on the relevant authorities such as the National Human Rights Commission, the ministries of Health, Interior, Education, Youth, Children and Gender as well as Justice to provide effective response to the victims. Not only are these victims suffering severe pain, but also, most of them are school-going children who are now unable to enjoy their right to education. We have noticed that the overall Government response to this incident is minimal and poor. In this regard, we wish to commend the Brikama Area Council for its prompt and timely response to the medical needs of the patients.
EFSCRJ will continue to monitor this matter and will hold the Government accountable to ensure that they fulfil their obligations to not only these victims but also ensure that a recurrence of such accidents does not take place again.
