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Why No African Leader Has Handled The COVID-19 Pandemic Better Than Akufo Addo

Feature Article Why No African Leader Has Handled The COVID-19 Pandemic Better Than Akufo Addo
SEP 27, 2020 LISTEN

The Ghanaian leader, Nana Akufo Addo has done very well in handling the coronavirus crisis in the country

Life is very precious and every death of a person brings grief and sadness to the family of the victim. However, rival political parties must desist from using politics as a tool to undermine the efforts of President Akufo Addo, in his excellent manner and precautions in handling the COVID 19 crisis in the country.

The coronavirus hit the world with a ferocious impact in the manner that many countries weren’t expecting and due to the impact of previous pandemics such as HIV-Aids and Ebola on Africa, world leaders, and health institutions, including the World Health Organization, had previously thought Africa might not be able to handle the health crisis.

Yet, the quick thinking and action of the current Ghanaian leader, Nana Akufo Addo, has prevented the situation to be far worse than what many African and developed countries, with the best healthcare systems, are facing at the moment.

On May 31, Nana Akufo Addo taking the seriousness of the pandemic into consideration, specified certain measures in place to curb the spread of the virus. In that month, 218,425 anti-COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country, from which 5,087 were positive; 2,947 recovered and 36 deceased.

In the beginning, all schools were closed and banned from cultural, religious, political gatherings, normal international norms recommended preventing the spread of the virus.

Above all, the most seriously infected places, Accra, Kumasi, and Kasoa, were declared ‘Red Zone’ by the President for three weeks and the borders closed until a later date.

What are the best or effective measures by any African president to handle this COVID 19 crisis than the measures the Ghanaian leader, Nana Akufo Addo took?

The demands of people have no boundary, therefore, there will always be criticism, but people shouldn’t use politics as a tool to undermine the efforts of the government in certain aspects that he has performed very well.

Another notable precaution implemented by the government to avoid the spread of the coronavirus is that all gatherings for prayer, catechesis, and even liturgical-sacramental celebrations were suspended.

I can criticize Nana Akufo Addo if things are not going well in the country, but not this efficient way the president has handled the COVID 19 crisis in the country, especially, comparing and analyzing the global situation of the pandemics.

Even in Belgium, which has one of the best medical facilities in the world, the disease has claimed the lives of 9,974 and affected 112,803 people.

In an interview, the Presidential health adviser Dr. Nsiah-Asare, even though indicated that 10% of the Ghanaian population could likely test positive for the virus before the infection peaks, the situation in the country is not disturbing or dangerous like other countries in Africa. That means only a matter of time, Ghana will defeat this deadly pandemic.

Despite the population of Ghana is estimated at over 28,000,000, there are large regions in the country where no cases of infection are reported.

Furthermore, since Friday 5 June, Ghana has started to implement a gradual relaxation of restrictions, which final year university students will have to report to school on 15 June 2020, while everyone follows the strict respecting protocols of social distancing and hygiene.

Till now, the government is constantly educating the population on the behaviors and precautions to be taken to prevent contagion, collaborating for the disinfestations of environments, and teaching the population on how to avoid the spread of the disease.

If without hypocrisy and hate, we have to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, then based on the effectiveness of handling of the coronavirus in the country, we need to congratulate Akufo Addo for that.

He has done well, therefore, I will surely congratulate him on the great steps he took to avoid the spread of the disease which has already devastated many countries around the globe.

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