Human cost of #panamapapers and flawed tax system should never be forgotten
The Panama Papers released this week by the ICIJ show the enormous lengths people will go to in order to evade or avoid paying taxes. But they don’t show the serious impact of such actions — which can literally mean death for some.
A story which emerged from Cameroon last month illustrates this in the most tragic way. Monique Koumate, 31, was expecting twins. Her partner took her to hospital when she went into labour and started experiencing complications. But because they didn’t have the money to pay the fees required, she was left outside the maternity unit in the city of Douala for hours, in desperate need of urgent care, the door closed to her.
