Supreme Court Judge, Justice Jones Victor Mawulorm Dotse, one of the panel of nine Judges hearing the 2012 election petition case, has been moved by the death of a woman in labour so much that he made reference to it during a ruling on Wednesday August 14. The story of Perfect Daba, who lives in Torgorme, had however been featured previously on the Maternal Health Channel on GTV and TV3, but due to the seriousness of the story, the Judge made reference to it at the Supreme Court to highlight the need for stronger efforts by government and all stakeholders to curb maternal mortality in the country. The 23 -year-old mother, who already had two children died after giving birth to her third child at the back of a car that was rushing her to the hospital to get help for her labour complications. The vehicle was obtained to act as an ambulance seven hours after her labour complications started. It was just too late to reach the nearest hospital 80 km away. Had the complications started earlier into the labour cycle, she could have been transported to the hospital on a motorbike - the usual mode of transport for women in labour in Torgorme. But to make matter worse, when Perfect and her husband finally got to the only exit out of the village of Torgome, the metal gate at the Kpong Power Plant managed by the Volta River Authority (VRA), was locked, making it impossible for them to drive through. At 3am on the day Perfect died, her husband tried desperately to unnlock the metal gate that would take them to Akuse Hospital. The security man manning the gate, was no where to be found. With the terrible labour complicationso and no chance of driving through the metal gates of Kpong Power Plant, it was impossible to save his wife's life. Perfect died after struggling to bring forth her child. According to the Judge, "one thing we must all realize, especially those who ascribe to leadership positions, is that if you want your voice to be heard on the airwaves, there are a lot of issues you can talk about", he said to General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, and a party communicator, Hopeson Adorye, who had been summoned to the Court for making inciteful and contemptuous comments. Justice Dotse admonished the contemnors to highlight teething issues such as lack of social and health amenities but "not useless issues like these [inciteful and contemptuous comments]". He continued, "So our leaders, both sides, government and opposition, must address such issues. If you want people in your village to hear your voice, talk about issues like this! How do we fend for the people of Torgorme to ensure that at 11pm when somebody is bitten by a snake and he has to be taken to hospital, he’s not locked out of going to the hospital?" he riled at the whole nation and the two NPP executives. You can watch the story of Perfect Daba on the Maternal Health Channel (MHC) programme by clicking on this link

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