24th -04-2020
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
LACK OF UPDATES ON COVID-19 FIGHT IN AFADZATO SOUTH DISTRICT TROUBLING-AFADZATO SOUTH NDC.
The Afadzato South National Democratic Congress (NDC) wishes to commend all stakeholders in the Afadzato South District including Traditional Authorities, Security Personnel, Political Players, health professionals, District Chief Executive (DCE), Hon. James E. Flolu and the Member of Parliament (MP), Hon. Angela Alorwu-Tay among others for the critical roles they are playing to safeguard the District from the ravaging COVID-19 outbreak.
We further wish to thank His Excellency the President for the creation of the COVID-19 Trust Fund, announcement of One Hundred Million United States Dollars ($100M) and the introduction of additional measures towards national efforts in containing the spread of the deadly virus in Ghana.
In as much as we commend the District Assembly’s efforts at putting in place some measures to prevent any outbreak of the virus, our displeasure however has to do with lack of updates (i.e usage of district covid-19 funds, membership of district covid-19 team, screening, routine monitoring, community sensitization programs carried out so far and feedback, number of PPEs distributed, isolation centers created, number of frontline health personnel trained, usage of nose masks etc…) and risk communication regarding COVID-19 in the District.
We consider the secret manner in which resources meant for the fight are being used in the Afadzato South District (ASD) very troubling and unfortunate. We want to state emphatically clear that COVID-19 fight cannot be won when there is no transparency on the utilization of funds meant for same. Also, we want to remind the president’s representative in the person of the DCE that we risk losing the fight when citizens are not being taken along in this trying times. It is worth noting that Inclusively ensures ownership, a prerequisite to win the fight against the invisible enemy call corona virus.
From our checks, measures put in place to prevent any possible outbreak in our jurisdiction is not stringent enough. It is interesting to note that there is no effective screening and surveillance at most of our entry points. Public education about the deadly virus among citizens especially those around hard to reach communities is very low and we do not think this is good for Afadzato South, a district which boarders Togo one way or the other.
The big question however is in the midst of the troubling issues raised; can Afadzato South District be said to be fully prepared to prevent or contain an outbreak in the unlikely event that it does occur?
Whiles at it, we recommend the following measures to help prevent or contain any outbreak in the district:
1. That the District Assembly take immediate action and actively engage local NGOs/CSOs with proven track record to support in its public education campaigns to create more awareness among the doubting citizens to become more aware of the deadly virus.
2. The DCE must take responsibility and provide frequent updates on the status of Afadzato South District regarding COVID-19 fight.
3. Avoid hand shaking at least for now. More education on social distancing protocols needed. These declarations should be reinforced made by the District Assembly.
4. That DCE must bring citizens to speed on the usage of the district COVID-19 allocated funds to ensure funds are strictly used for its intended purpose(s).
We are of the strongest view that our 4 point recommendations would go a long way to support the fight against the deadly coronavirus in district should the Assembly consider them.
Issued by: Afadzato South Constituency NDC Communications Unit