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It is very sad that a serious issue such as the alleged drowning of
hiplife artiste, Castro, and his female companion, Janet Bandu at Ada
during a Jet Ski accident on Sunday, July 6, has in some cases been
reduced to mere mockery.
Even if we refuse to see the seriousness of the issue at hand and
rather choose to create trashy jokes out of it for undeserved humour
and laughter, we must not forget that so far as people go to such
places, water accidents will always remain a challenge to deal with.
Two weeks after the accident, perhaps, it is understandable that the
intensive search for the two missing persons have been brought to an
end but finding a lasting solution to such tragic accidents would go
far in helping the country, especially the operators and guests of
such resorts.
In other countries, a more serious and pragmatic approach would have
begun to find a solution to the problem but in Ghana, no, instead, we
are joking with the situation with speculations, tales, and spiritual
innuendos and forthright lies. And the sad part is that, many think
the twists given to the accident are funny.
Every day, a different story comes out and I wonder how many more we
are to expect. I will advise that we adopt the "You and I were not
there" approach and not rely on all the funny stories being churned
out on a daily basis. The stories and the theories don't even tally.
Castro's situation had become a subject for mockery for self-styled
mallams, prophets and traditional priests who are cashing in on this
unfortunate story.
A lot has already been said and in all indications, a lot more would
be said as Castro has not been found yet and nothing shows that he
would be found dead or alive anytime soon.
Social media is the trending source of information as it has taken
over traditional media such as newspapers, television and radio. The
way news of Castro's disappearance has been disseminated confirms
this.
On that fateful day, Sunday, July 6, 2014, I got to know of this sad
news on social media after I had received lots of calls, SMS and
WhatsApp messages from friends who had wanted me to confirm the sad
news they had also heard from other sources.
Initially, I treated the news as trivial until I logged onto other
social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter, and was bombarded with
tributes upon tributes to the alleged departed soul of Castro who had
been a dear friend to a lot of music enthusiasts.
I shed a tear for Castro. I do so not only because I have followed his
music career closely, but also because I have personally experienced
near-drowning before and I'm aware how painful it is to lose someone
close to you.
Last week, when hopes of finding the missing Castro and Janet Bandu
appeared to have faded, award winning music producer, Hammer of the
Last Two, posted on his Facebook wall something that attracted my
attention and got me thinking.
Hammer posted these words on his page: "Forgive me but I'm pretty
sure it's time to pronounce Castro dead officially, so some of us can
pay our respects accordingly. Speculations have robbed him of the
appropriate courtesy paid to the departed… And failure to do this
might further disrespect his memory. There's no conspiracy or
superstition to this so the denial needs to end".
An obviously not so enthused Hammer continued: "Castro suffered a
fatal accident and is not with us anymore. All these agents of dark
forces should cut the crap about Maame Water and shouldn't be
encouraged with an audience at all cos Castro was a God fearing man.
Let's do what needs to be done. Just saying #RestinpeaceCastro."
Like I said, the above words got me and several others thinking deeply
about the whole situation. Shouldn't Castro be pronounced dead, so
people can offer their last respects to him and let thesleeping dog
lie comfortably like Hammer is suggesting?
However, the other question that begs for an answer is whether Castro
can be declared dead even when his body has not been found yet? If
not, for how long are we prepared to wait?
I'm not in any way pronouncing Castro dead or advocating for him to be
pronounced dead but can one live under water for two weeks and still
stay alive? Or is somebody playing a prank on Ghanaians?
