Covid-19: Masks Wearing Must Be An Order, Not Advice

IMANI Africa President Franklin Cudjoe is in favour of more stringent backing of directives for the mandatory wearing of face masks due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“I think the advice to wear a face mask should be changed into some real order with some level of punishment but we must also have a humane face,” he said on The Big Issue.

Mr. Cudjoe’s appeal for a humane face was because “the fact of the matter is [that] not everyone can purchase a face mask.”

He however advised against any move by the state to supply face masks to poor people.

“I think that every person, however poor or wretched the person is, has a piece of cloth which can be washed, sanitised and with two pieces of rubber strings, you can actually hold them.”

“I would not go as far as to recommend that Ghana does a stimulus package where face masks are going to be used. We may overproduce and you know which challenges this comes with and procurement opportunities.”

Also speaking on the show, a former Health Minister, Alex Segbefia also backed the mandatory wearing of face masks but said the poor persons in society needed some state support.

“If you make it mandatory and people can't get [the face masks], they are open to sanctions and there is no way they could have rectified it… Those [poor persons] should be identified and the government assist them in giving the mask.”

The wearing of face masks in public places has also been made mandatory within the Greater Accra Region.

The Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly in the Central Region will also make the wearing of face masks mandatory from Monday, April 27, 2020.

But there are no significant penal measures for these directives.

All public and private institutions in the region were only instructed by the Assembly to begin a 'No Face Mask, No