General Secretary of the People's National Convention (PNC) and Convener of the Mass Action Committee (MAC), Atik Mohammed, has commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for taking bold steps to safeguard the lives of Ghanaians during this COVID-19 pandemic.
The PNC General Secretary noted that it takes a great leader to take tough decisions in the interest of the nation, but might not necessarily resonate with some members of the public.
Contributing to Thursday's edition of ''Kokrokoo'' on Peace FM, he stressed that the President has shown outstanding leadership qualities ensuring the protection of the lives of Ghanaians is his top priority even though the novel COVID-19 will have an adverse impact on economic growth.
''We need to commend the President for the bold steps he took. Some were very tough, especially the imposition of restrictions including the lockdown. If you know the impact of pandemics or emergency such as we're facing on the economy and you're not bold, you are tempted to say that, look, I won't take decisions that will have counter productive effects on my economy. But if you compare the lives you're likely to lose to the slump in your economy growth and you have compassion for people, you would decide that, look, let's take the hard decision. Our economy will be affected alright but at least, we will end up saving lives...For me, the President recognizing that we should protect human lives even at the expense of our economy is laudable'', he stated.
Atik Mohammed, however, registered his disagreement with the President's lockdown lift because the restrictions on movement, in his candid view, were necessary in curtailing the spread of the disease.
To him, the President should have extended the restrictions and not truncated it.
''We are still in the woods. We hadn't broken the chain of spread yet. So, we needed some more time at home especially in the affected areas in order to effectively conduct the enhanced surveillance and contact tracing. Even if we couldn't break the chain, we would have succeeded somewhat in reducing the rate of spread,'' he stated.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
COVID-19 IS EXPOSING THE IGNORANCEEE OF NDC MPS. AFTER NDC PRESS CONFERENCE, OSEI BONSU OF ADOM FM INTERVIEWED OKUDJATO ABLAKWA. THE NDC MP EXPOSED PROFOUND IGNORANCEE AS HE COMPARED GHANA AND NIGERIA IN REGARD TO COVID-19. HE INCORRECTLY ARGUED THAT GHANA CASE IS WORSE BECAUSE NIGERIA HAS 3,526 CASES AND GHANA HAS 3,091 AND THAT NIGERIA HAS ABOUT NINE TIMES BIGGER POPULATION THAN GHANA. ABLAKWA DISREGARDED ALL OTHER CRITERION MEASURE THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 IN A COUNTRY. ANY INTELLIGENT COMPARISON OF COVID 19 SHOULD INCLUDE (1) DEATH RATE -GHANA 18, NIGERIA 107. (2)NUMBER OF TEST IN THE COUNTRY- GHANA 135,902 NIGERIA 22, 492 (3) RATIO OF TEST PER EVERY ONE MILLION OF POPULATION - GHANA - 4,374, NIGERIA 109. SO GHANA WITH ONE NINTH OF NIGERIA POPULATION HAS TESTED SIX TIMES MORE THAN NIGERIA. TO EVERY ONE MILLION NIGERIAN POPULATION ONLY 109 IS TESTED, BUT TO EVERY ONE MILLION POPULATION OF GHANA 4,374 IS TESTED. GHANA HAS DONE EXTREMELY WELL, IF ANY ONE WANTS TO COMPARE TO NIGERIA. IN THE ENTIRE AFRICA GHANA IS SECOND ONLY TO SOUTH AFRICA. IT IS THEREFORE INCORRECT TO DO COVID-19 ASSESSMENT WITHOUT TAKING TO CONSIDERATION THE RATE OF DEATH IN THE COUNTRY AND RATIO OF TEST ACCORDING TO POPULATION OF THE COUNTRY. THE TWO CONSIDERATION DETERMINE THE ABILITY TO CONTAIN THE PANDEMIC. IF A COUNTRY CHOOSE NOT TO TEST TO HAVE FEW CONFINED CASES IT IS EXPOSED BY NUMBER OF DEATH THEY GET. IN EUROPE THE CONDITION OF GERMANY IS CONSIDERED TO BE BETTER AMONG ITS NEIGHBORS BECAUSE IT HAS FEWER DEATH RATE, THOUGH HUGE PROPORTION OF TESTING AND CONFIRMED CASES. WE CAN SAY THE SAME ABOUT RUSSIA, HUGE CONFIRMED CASES BECAUSE OF GOOD AMOUNT OF TESTING BUT FEWER DEATH. IN VIEW OF THIS GHANA IS DOING EXTREMELY WELL. GOD HAS BEEN GOOD TO US AND WE MUST BE THANKFUL. NANA ADDO IS LUCKY AND BLESSED. NDC MPS MUST GO BACK TO SCHOOL AGAIN. THEY HAVE WEAK LOGIC AND POOR APPLICATION OF FIGURES. WE NEED INTELLIGENT PEOPLE IN PARLIAMENT TO ENHANCE GOVERNANCE AND BUILD THE NATION.