Covid-19 Has Exposed Ghana’s Fundamental Problems Ignored For Several Years – Akoto Ampaw

A private legal practitioner, Akoto Ampaw says the novel coronavirus has brought to light all of Ghana’s weak points which have been ignored for several years now.

Ghana currently has 641 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 83 full recoveries and eight deaths.

The disease, which saw a sudden hike in the number of cases in less than a month has forced the government to put in a lot of effort to protect the public and control its spread.

Sharing his thoughts on some of the effects the coronavirus has had on the country on The Point of View, Akoto Ampaw noted that all the cracks in Ghana’s social structure are being exposed, showing how bad Ghana has been depending on other countries for almost everything.

“The policies that we have been pursuing have not provided effective protection for our people. Whether in the area of social safety nets, conditions of production and manufacturing, trade, you will find that we are always on the receiving end. The challenges that this pandemic has confronted Ghana and Africa with and the way we are struggling to meet these challenges show that we do have fundamental problems of social structure, organization and capacity to respond to protect and reproduce our lives,” he stated.

“This should open the eyes of everybody because when the crisis occurred, we were looking for masks. Common masks. Is it that Ghanaian ingenuity, technology, and science could not manufacture masks? The crisis within a few weeks has forced us to start manufacturing masks by ourselves. So that is what I’m saying that the crisis exposes the fact that we have been a non-manufacturing nation and it has exposed us so graphically.”

Prior to Ghana’s first confirmation of COVID-19, Akoto Ampaw expressed concern with the limited information available to the public on the coronavirus.

He then wrote to the Minister of Health requesting details on Ghana's preparedness towards a potential outbreak of the virus in the country.

He also requested some assurances on the extent to which health care in Ghana could withstand the effects of the virus.

“Considering that Ghana sources majority of its drugs and non-drug consumables from China, what measures are in place to ensure that general healthcare in the country is not unduly affected as a result of this global health emergency?”

Shaky economy

Already, the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu believes Ghana will struggle to keep its economy in shape if the Coronavirus disease is not eradicated within the next four months.

He said it may take Ghana close to two years for its economy to bounce back if the situation persists beyond a four-month period.

---citinewsroom