The Eastern Region Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has laid responsibility for the spike in Coronavirus cases in the Eastern Region at the doorstep of President Akufo-Addo.
According to him, had the President stopped the National Identification Authority (NIA) from the mass registration in time, the situation would have been contained.
The Eastern Region has experienced an increase in confirmed cases of the virus from one to 28 in the last couple of days.
The Region had not recorded any case when President Akufo-Addo gave the social distancing directives, which were part of measures to contain the deadly pandemic from spreading.
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Public gatherings including conferences, workshops, funerals, festivals, political rallies, sporting events and religious activities in churches and mosques and educational activities were halted.
However, the NIA ignored the President’s directives and continued with the Ghana Card mass registration exercise in the Region.
The NDC communicator Darlas Williams, in a statement, noted that the exercise led to massive crowds in all the centers with the aged, sick and disabled struggling to be registered in defiance of the social distancing directive.
“The same registration equipments such as fingerprint scanners were shared by all persons who turned up to register.”
“Failure by President Akufo-Addo to advise his appointee, Ken Attafuah, to suspend the exercise has yielded a scary result in the Eastern Region,” he stated.
Darlas noted that a number of railway workers in Belokope Quarters who have been infected by the disease were spotted at New Covenant Apostle Church, a registration centre of the Ahodwo Electoral Area in the Lower Manya District.
“There is also suspicion and possibility that some moved to nearby registration centres such as E.P Kpong Church and Kpong Presby Centres.”
He argued that instead of going into self-isolation, some of the infected persons were seen frolicking with girls in beer bars and pubs.
This, he said, has created fear in adjoining Districts such as Upper Manya, Yilo, Asuogyaman, Okere, Akropong and New Juaben North and South, because of daily interactions across these districts by traders.
He argued that had the President called Ken Attafuah to order to suspend the exercise after the directive had been issued, the region’s status would have been different today.
Darlas observed that President Akufo-Addo should be held responsible because the NIA boss was acting according to his orders.
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“Ken Attafuah was acting according to the orders of President Akufo-Addo in his bid to seek re-election through the use of Ghana Card to compile the New Voters Register as announced by the Electoral Commissioner without recourse to the safety of the electorate in the wake of the COVID-19,” he stated.
According to him, this was evident in the defence of the Attorney General and the NIA against an injunction sought by two citizens from the Krobo area.
He called on the government to as a matter of urgency start mass testing in the Eastern Region, most especially, in the affected areas, as an appropriate measure to contain further spread of the Coronavirus.
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Uthman A. Marani/Frontpageghana.com/Ghana
