By: Dr. Anthony Sallar
When twelve young lives are lost in a stampede during a military recruitment exercise, the nation must pause—not to recite platitudes, but to demand answers. Yet in the aftermath of the El-Wak Stadium tragedy, a Member of Parliament responded not with empathy or urgency, but with resignation: “This is what the Almighty Allah has ordained for them. Today is their day.”
This is not leadership. It is deflection.
A Member of Parliament is entrusted with shaping laws, safeguarding lives, and advancing national dignity. To invoke divine will in place of institutional accountability is to abandon that duty. The El-Wak stampede was not an act of God—it was a failure of governance. For years, Ghanaian graduates have queued as early as midnight, desperate for a chance to serve their country, only to be met with chaos, overcrowding, and indifference. Why has this process not been reformed?
Ghana deserves a proper military training institution—just like our universities and colleges—where candidates apply, are screened, and trained systematically. Recruitment should not be a spectacle of desperation. It should be a dignified, transparent process that honors the aspirations of our youth and the seriousness of national service.
We must also confront a deeper issue: the conflation of religion, culture, and governance. Faith is sacred. But when it is used to excuse preventable deaths, it becomes a shield against responsibility. Growth as a nation demands that we respect the boundaries between belief and civic duty. Common sense must guide policy—not fatalism.
And let us be honest about the state of Parliament itself. Until we restructure it—perhaps even as a part-time institution—we will continue to see individuals who confuse ceremonial presence with meaningful governance. Parliamentarians are not development agents. They are lawmakers. Their role is to legislate, to scrutinize, and to protect—not to chase contracts or deliver empty consolation.
The tragedy at El-Wak should never have happened. And the remarks that followed should never have come from someone entrusted with legislative power. The lives lost demand more than mourning. They demand reform.
Let us honor them not with silence, but with change.
Dr. Anthony Sallar (Aflao Boy)
