A former student leader at the University of Ghana has downplayed concerns about University Halls traditional rites that involve hazardous activities.
Supreme Petras Anaab, who is a former Chief Justice for Republic of Okponglo of the Mensah Sarbah Hall, argued that such rituals do not pose danger to participants as they are made to seem.
“Jumping over fire is not dangerous. This has been there for over 30 years and this is the first time it is happening, it is not dangerous. Something which is dangerous means it occurs everyday, every time”.
According to him, the fire incident that occurred during one of such rituals at AAMUSTED, resulting in the death of a student was just an accident and should not be a cause for concern.
“I don’t see anything big about it. It’s an accident and they have to cry over it and make sure there are remedies to such things in the future. How many times haven’t people had accident in cars and they died? So are we going to say that we are not taking cars again?” he questioned.
Prosper Owusu, who was said to be the Chief Priest of the Opoku Ware Hall at the Akenten Appiah Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development, died after suffering severe burns during the hall’s rituals.
In the process of the rituals that involved encircling around fire, his traditional apparel caught fire, leaving him severely burnt.
A video of the incident which went viral captured the deceased running hurry-scurry in attempt to be rescued.
He was said to have been rescued later and rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) for medical care. However, doctors could not save his life.
His death has sparked concerns about traditional rites at tertiary institutions in the country especially those that involve hazardous activities such as procession around fire with some calling for a ban of such rituals.
But speaking in an interview on TV3, Petras Anaab dismissed the concerns, arguing that the incident at AAMUSTED is an isolated one.
He stated that the said rituals activities have, long, been in existence and have not endangered the lives of students.
He, however, advised his colleagues to take a cue from the fire incident and put measures in place to curb any similar occurrence in the future.
“They have to learn from it. Bring a fire extinguisher or even invite fire service to be there so that in case there is this type of accident, they can quench the fire for you”.
