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I am outraged like a widowed cobra for the shameful denial of bail for Nurse Ernest Green who has been accused of rape by an ostensibly broke and stranded Italian white lady by name Daniella. Notwithstanding the festival of discrepancies in Daniella’s stories, the court thinks Ernest Green should still be in the discomforting dungeon of the police.
It is quite evident to many that the i’s in her hysterical joke have not been dotted and the t’s have not been crossed. So, why must Nurse Ernest be kept for seven solid days without a bail. And as if that is not enough, his stay has been extended till 17th April. O dear me! Is it because the case is between an angel (white lady) and a devil (black nurse Ernest). Or it’s some re-enactment of the popular Disney’s animation, “The Beauty And The Beast”.
The court says this is an issue of national interest. Indeed, the national interest is to see a selfless dedicated nurse without an iota of criminal records wallows in purgatory. The testimonies of Ernest’s unassuming character of morality alone is enough to have secured him a bail in many functional justice system.
It is morally reprehensible to treat Nurse Ernest as if he has killed God’s first born. The desire to appease the Italian Embassy or the powers that be should not be the prize on someone who is largely innocent on the face of the pinksheet.
The cliché, we are all equal before the law has even outlived its cosmetic value. The reasons advanced for the refusal of bail for him were hysterical — absolutely poor in logic.
The court says the army worm fashion in which the nurses stormed the court impeded investigations relevant to his bail. Waa look! Were the nurses holding machetes, cudgels, clubs or firecrackers? No nurse even went to the court with a syringe and needle. There were no placards, no noise (of agitation), no nothing! Every nurse at the courtyard showed the character of the lady with the lamp, Nightingale.
By the way, when has it become a crime for a brethren to go to court to solidarise with one of their own. Even Opuni bused people across regional capitals to the precinct of the court on his first appearance. Well wishers presence at court has nothing to do with the adjudication of the substantive issues. Brethren and well wishers presence at courtrooms and courtyards is a common practice in Ghana. Besides, the court should better know that the fundamental human rights and freedoms as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution gives everyone the freedom of assembly including freedom to take part in processions and demonstrations.
The court also said the heavy presence of the nurses at the courtyard didn’t create a safe atmosphere for Daniella to come to the court. Eeeih. I am clearly looking for the right WhatsApp emoji to express my true disgust. Are nurses been mistaken for Delta Forces? Even if Daniella needed security, it is the responsibility of the police to provide it.
If we were not a shithole country, Nurse Ernest should have been given bail with at least a landed property bond. His facility (place of work) and other sister facilities would have readily come in as sureties or whatchamacallit.
Well, the court should advert its mind to the Supreme Court ruling entitled Martin Kpebu vs Attorney General filed in February 2015. The apex court made a 5-2 decision to strike out Ghana’s law on non-bailable offences such as murder, rape, treason, defilement, piracy among others. The ruling thereof invalidated the constitutionality of the statutory restrictions in line with Section 96 (7) of Ghana’s Criminal Procedure Code.
It is therefore (methinks) unconstitutional or perhaps unfair to still hold Nurse Ernest at the behest of bureaucracy or “powers”.
But where is Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA)? Ernest is represented by his facility’s lawyer. With all sincerity, this doesn’t tell well of an association that is passionate of their members. An association that takes about GHc103 monthly from its members as dues, levies and funds can do better. I think the association of which Ernest is a member should have provided him with a “rape specialist” lawyer to call off the bluff of the court.
Dear nurses and midwives, until we meet again on the 17th April at the court premises, let Ghanaians know that Daniella is a big fraud. She couldn’t pay for a Safari car she rented, she couldn’t afford to pay her two-night booked Mole Motel, she couldn’t even pay for Paracetamol tablet when she arrived at the health facility and her ATM cards which she gave out to access cash were all rejected. She was broke as church mouse, confused as Confusionist and stranded like a Chibok girl. The only way for her to have catch the attention of her country’s embassy was to resort to the proverbial cry of a wolf. And typical of a shithole country that sees everything of White-genesis as sacrosanct, the systems are falling for it.
Let’s remember our colleague in our prayers. #JusticeForNurseErnestGreen.
By Hanan-Confidence Abdul
Senior Nurse
Tamale West Hospital
0208455884
