The Founder and Leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Mr. Akwasi Addae or Odike of Ventures fame, has said the inability of the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, to lockdown the country for the second time during his 22nd COVID-19 update address last weekend smacked of failed leadership.
The avid critic of President Nana Akufo-Addo believed that since the signs were clear that Ghana was neck deep in the woods, Ghanaians should have been sent into a lockdown, instead of the announcement on the re-opening of schools, and added that the daily 200 reported cases of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) should be enough grounds for the lockdown, since the current developments were synonymous to what necessitated last year’s total lockdown.
“His (President) inability to declare a lockdown is failing to exhibit leadership.”
Mr. Akwasi Addae Odike, who was speaking to Dr. Cash on OTEC FM Dwaberem programme on Monday, January 18, 2021, maintained that, at least, a one week lockdown would have been necessary for the government to re-impose new measures, indicating that it was going to be difficult for the security personnel to ensure all Ghanaians adhered to all the safety protocols on COVID-19, due to their misconceptions about the disease, created by the posture of our leaders.
Nana Akufo-Addo, while addressing the Nation in his 22nd update on the COVID-19 outbreak, pleaded with Ghanaians to observe the COVID-19 protocols at all times. “You must maintain the level of discipline and sense of responsibility to stop the virus from spreading in your schools, and for day students at home as well. Wear your masks at all times. Wash and sanitise your hands regularly. Protect yourself. Protect each other. Protect your teachers. Protect your parents,” he said.
The President further pleaded: “Please, do not give me a reason to close down schools again. I pledge to do my best to keep your education going. I want you to assure me, your parents, your teachers, and society as a whole, through your actions, that you will do your part as well.”
But, Mr. Akwasi Addae Odike further posited that the posture and conduct of President Akufo-Addo and his appointees gave most Ghanaians the false impression that the disease was gone and eradicated from our midst, a situation, the businessman cum politician believes, made the public look down upon the safety protocols.
He recounted: “There is evidence of a deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Carlos Ahenkora, though on admission for having tested positive for COVID-19, yet he sneaked to mingle with party members and further infected them without any punitive sanctions for the offence.”
He noted that the security personnel became helpless, as they could simply not ensure strict and total adherence to the protocols, because the politicians were the very people violating the prescribed protocols.
Odike, as he is simply referred to, also pointed to the activities during the 2020 campaigns as a major cause of the recent increase of the pandemic, and yet the President failed to acknowledge that in his address last Sunday.
The UPP leader has, as a matter of urgency, recommended that the President lock down the country for the second time, rather than to wait for parents and guardians to spend their resources on the education of their wards before any announcement would be made to that effect.
The post Odike recommends total lockdown for Ghana appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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