In Totota Tragedy:

By Samuel Flomo, Jr.

The December 26, 2023, explosion claimed over 70 lives, and left scores of others badly burned beyond gratitude.

 Family members of the infamous Totota, Bong County gas explosion have outrightly rejected reported of how the money donated were presented.
The family claimed the reports were fraudulent, “because the L$10.8 million were misapplied.”

Meanwhile, a wave of outrage has erupted in Totota, Lower Bong County, after the Grievance Committee representing victims and survivors of the December 26, 2023, tanker explosion outrightly rejected a financial report.

The report, according to insiders, ‘detailed’ how donated funds and relief materials were spent.

The group proprietary the document as “tampered with, incomplete and misleading.”

The explosion, one of the deadliest tragedies in the country modern history, claimed over 70 lives, and left scores of others badly burned beyond gratitude.

Nearly a year later, survivors say the pain has been deepened by “blatant mismanagement” of donations meant to support grieving families.

While addressing journalists following the submission of the report, chairman of the Grievance Committee, Clinton Brown, condemned the report as a “calculated attempt to conceal the truth.”

Mr. Brown is the father of one of the victims of the ‘Totota incident.’

He alleged that funds, and relief items were diverted, and that key documents were hidden from the affected families.

 “This report cannot be trusted. It was never shared with the victims before it was presented. We were kept in the dark, and when we tried to speak, we were silenced,” Brown cried while fuming.

He further revealed that many of the victims’ families boycotted the ceremony, citing intimidation by armed Police Support Unit officers, who surrounded the venue of the event.

Brown claimed that the heavy police presence was meant to discourage dissenting voices, and shield those accused of mismanaging the donated items.

Members of the 55^th Legislature set up the committee, (now at the center of the controversy) to oversee transparent distribution of financial, and materials to victims and survivors.

By that, allegations of dishonesty and poor accountability, have now cast a dark shadow over the credibility of the committee with individual members being accused of being corrupt.

During the event, Bong County Senator Prince K. Moye, said the total donation amounted to L$10.8 million and US$12,000, naming President Joseph Nyuma Boakai as the single highest contributor.

Moye acknowledged delays, but pledged to return to Totota after reviewing the report in full.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Samuel A. Stevquoah, admitted that the report was incomplete, but assured that a copy would be forwarded to the President for further scrutiny.