Well, if the reports are correct, than this captain recognized his problem and self-reported it! And was then ordered to fly....
Welcome to Africa ... from the writing on the side of parts of the wreckage they were affiliated to or approved by IATA.
ORG ? not compliant.
Problem is and ever will be cultural. Paper over the cracks as much as you will but there will always be an end result. People in key positions hold power, usually they understand their role in remaining objective and professional, and passing safety related matters on for further investigation, but sometimes they don't, and ego's rule the roost. That is a huge challenge in developing nations like it or not, and one which IATA is striving to bring into line by 2015 through it's multinational agreement with African states for every carrier within the scope of IOSA to be compliant.
But, it is the organisation, and their commitment to safety, together with the systematic safeguards put in place as a matter of culture that underpin this process.
There is at least one West African airline that I know of, that is pushing ahead for IOSA whilst brushing extremely serious incidents under the carpet, simply because the means justifies the ends, and commitment translates to lip service.
Before people get too upset, I use the cultural term in it's corporate sense and to balance the argument look at the heavy landing at Rome a few years back, where the captain had lost his son a few days previously, but according to press reports, was too afraid to report the fact for fear of getting sacked. I don't recall the name of the airline but it was an Irish registered B737-800 apparently ......
No amount of blarney, whitewash, or wallpaper will prevent the holes in the cheese lining up, and from the interim report, there is clearly far more to this terrible accident than meets the eye.