Mahama instructs former appointees to join govt to fight COVID-19

• Posted on March 16, 2020March 16, 2020
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Former President John Dramani Mahama has instructed all former appointees under his government who assisted in the country’s preparedness during the Ebola outbreak to assist the current administration in dealing with the coronavirus.

Addressing Ghanaians in Facebook Live session today [Monday, March 16, 2020], Mr Mahama said: “I have instructed my communications team and my public health advisors to support any efforts by the Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Health in this particular regard.”

He added “I have also asked all former appointees of my administration who assisted in our readiness efforts during the ebola epidemic to aid the government in whatever way they can if requested to do so,” stressing that “This virus is an enemy to all Ghanaians, and the call to duty in the fight against it rises above partisanship and politics.”

He said the cause to fight the diseases goes beyond partisanship, hence the need for all Ghanaians with capabilities to assist the government in fighting the disease.

Mr Mahama also called on the leadership of ECOWAS to come out with plans to deal with the disease as it did with the ebola outbreak.

He was of the view that ECOWAS Health and other relevant ministers and their advisors ought to hold a teleconference as a matter of urgency to review sub-regional actions that in handling the deadly virus so as to protect the blocs citizens.

Touching on information sharing concerning the disease, he urged the government to put out credible information on the disease, adding that misinformation and mistrust “are our enemies in this fight.”

According to him, a pandemic of this nature could only be fought if authorities were transparent with issues, concerning the disease.

Mr Mahama has, therefore, charged the Ministry of Information to put measures in place to deal with fake news on the subject, saying “This virus is an enemy to all Ghanaians.”

He said the outbreak was a national issue and called on the government to resource all public health facilities with the needed logistics to deal with the covid-19 outbreak.

He said many public health facilities were ill-resourced, stressing that some essentials such as personal protective gears or equipment must be provided to frontline health workers.

Mr Mahama has, consequently, congratulated all frontline health workers, who are helping the country to contain the disease.

“Your country Ghana is behind you and we are relying on your courage and competence to see us through this difficult times. We ask for God’s protection for you in this hour of crisis,” he said.

He explained that “the measure of our country’s greatness is in moment of crisis such as this; how we rise to a challenge,” entreating all Ghanaians to observe laid down protocols concerning the disease as prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

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