‘On Friday when President Akufo-Addo addressed the nation, never did he mention that he has given power to the military or police to use brute force on citizens’, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party has said.
According to Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, government isn’t seeking to worsen the conditions of citizens by unleashing violence on them.
He therefore called on the various heads of the security to address the content of the videos going round that suggest that their personnel are ready to beat citizens who flout the directives of the President.
In an interview with Wontumionline.com, Mr. Antwi-Boasiako stated that “I am calling on the Ashanti Regional Minister and the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council to take a look at the video which is in circulation and creating fear. The Northern Sector Command of the military and Police must also provide information to calm lives. The President hasn’t given anybody power to beat people.
He added that “The police can arrest people who flout laws. But people should first understand what the President said and shouldn’t misinterpret it. The banks and other people offering essential services can all go to work.”
Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, therefore, asked citizens to obey the orders of President Akufo-Addo and avoid running into unnecessary confrontations with the security services.
In an address by President Akufo-Addo to open up on updates to Ghana’s enhanced response to the coronavirus pandemic stated that “Government is doing is intended to achieve five (5) key objectives – limit and stop the importation of the virus; contain its spread; provide adequate care for the sick; limit the impact of the virus on social and economic life; and inspire the expansion of our domestic capability and deepen our self-reliance.”
He revealed that “Thus far, we have succeeded in halting any more importations of the virus into our country, and I thank the overwhelming majority of you for adhering to the good hygiene and social distancing protocols announced in my first broadcast to you.”
However, President Akufo-Addo noted that “prevailing circumstances mean that stricter measures have to be put in place to contain and halt the spread of the virus within our country, especially in Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi, which have been identified by the Ghana Health Service as the “hotspots” of the infections. In doing this, we cannot afford to copy blindly, and do all the things some other well-developed countries are doing.”
“We can defeat this virus if we all commit ourselves to respecting all the measures that have been outlined. I am confident that Ghanaians will comply with them, and the security services will not have to intervene, with extraordinary means, to enforce them. The love of country is deeply embedded in all of us, and I assure you that the security forces will conduct themselves with the necessary professionalism”, he said.
