Ghana has been thrown into mourning by the tragic incident of last Wednesday.
We join the rest of the country in expressing our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families during these very difficult times.
Even as we do so, we would not gloss over the undignified manner in which the remains of the deceased were conveyed from the accident scene, which leaves much to be desired. And to think that a soldier in uniform was videoing the despicable spectacle is heart-wrenching.
One of the images shows in typical Ghanaian fashion the soldier capturing the scene with his mobile phone with a sense of glee.
Unfortunately for him, he has rather attracted condemnation from concerned public who think he was insensitive; his seeming quest to be the first to capture the scene having failed to fly.
Our various cultures across the country and even elsewhere respect the dead and not the undignified treatment of the deceased which triggered this commentary.
It is worrying how these days, people are quick to capture scenes of accidents and take delight in spreading same. Undoubtedly, those who do so take delight in being identified as the sources of such weird dissemination, as though there should be some pride in the inappropriate pastime.
Although we have been told about the circumstances surrounding the accident — it took place in a near inaccessible forest reserve, and volunteers who did not want the remains to be washed away by possible rains had to make do with the sacks.
While this could pass for sensible reason, we nonetheless question the sense in capturing the spectacle and spreading it.
The official first respondents — the police, military and firefighters — should have done more to ensure that the remains of the officials were given the desired courtesy.
The pictures of the remains in sacks as they were conveyed by the volunteers were not images bereaved family members could view without further emotional trauma. As a people, the dead-in-cocoa-sacks images presented us as people with no respect for their dead.
Social media appears to have made us lose our moral values of respect for the dead. People are now so obsessed with capturing the images of agonising accident victims than rendering lifesaving help to them.
Although we are told that the remains were later transferred to body bags prior to their transfer to Accra, the negative fallout has already been inflicted for which we should bow our heads in shame.
Coupled with the foregone is the kind of nonsensical remarks some political activists are making on social media.
This is another testimony about how our moral values have disappeared through the window.
To think that those behind such remarks are not serial callers but envoys representing Ghana abroad makes it worrisome.
This is not the time to exhibit partisan foolishness. Our compatriots have died tragically and the best we can do is honour them with acceptable handling devoid of imbecilic remarks reminiscent of the typical campaign trail behaviour.