Akufo-Addo unleashed the dragon, coronavirus [Opinion]

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Nana Akufo-Addo and Jean Adukwei Mensa don’t care about Ghanaian lives.

Chuku Chaka , Chuku Chaka Chuku Chaka. I hear the sound of a locomotive train from a distance that is moving slowly to 7th December 2020. Will it bump and grind to its destination safely?

Over 4,700 cases already? Where are we heading as a country? At this rate we will be setting records in Africa very soon.

A Virologist with the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR), Dr. Michael Owusu has noted that considering Ghana’s current statistics, breakdown and the strategies undertaken so far, there will be a significant jump in the number of COVID-19 cases in the next one or two weeks if nothing significant changes.

Nana Akuffo Addo seriously has unleashed the dragon. So is it true that they have done over 160,000 tests which are not equivalent to even the population of Nima and they say we have peaked?

This position can’t be really true?

It looks like we haven’t seen anything yet. Thank God we are not dying like ants or the Brits and American but who knows? The Americans predict that we will have the major boom in summer.

Did you know that MONKEYS PLAY BY SIZES? Yes, they do, so Dr Afari Djan’s classmate cannot be Jean Adukwei Mensah in elections- related matters and running of the Electoral Commission.

Apart from wisdom, there is nothing more special that you need to make you a great leader when power is handed over to you. Dr Afari Djan had it all.

What at all do Jean Mensa and the Electoral Commission want?

Is it a do-or-die affair for the NPP to do a new voters register?

Maybe there might be a real motive behind their persistence.

Monkeys indeed play by sizes. Do you know that smaller tasks mostly come with smaller challenges?

If you are willing to take step-by-step methods to solve bigger tasks, you will easily overcome challenges that attempt to stop you.

Won’t Jean Mensa learn? She will soon stumble and fall before she realizes that there is nobody around to give her a helping hand.

As this world scrambles to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, the virus continues to spread to terrorize the nations of the world to bow their knees.

Scientists are trying to better understand how the pathogen spreads in order to reduce the worldwide pandemic.

Surprisingly, the Ghana Health Service and the Government of Ghana have continuously churned out massaged updates to the Ghanaian public and the world at large with a view to make the Ghanaian COVID-19 situation look good in the global eye.

The Nana Akuffo Addo 9th Edition update of Covid -19 that was recorded and played on the 10th of May 2020 was full of deliberate distortions and doesn’t reflect Ghana’s true COVID situation. Contrary to what the President would have us believe, Ghana’s current COVID-19 situation is very bleak. We have recorded a total of 4,700 positive cases with 22 deaths, making us the number one country with more COVID-19 cases in the whole of West Africa. Akufo-Addo’s government is failing Ghanaians once again.

This fact becomes even more glaring when Ghana’s situation is juxtaposed with that of developing countries like Rwanda (284 cases with no deaths) and Vietnam (288 cases with no deaths, even though the Vietnam shares a vast land border with China, with a population of 97 million).

There is an adage among the GA people that translates that, “if your mother is dead and you continue to say she is asleep, very soon the housefly will expose you by the smell of her rotten corpse.”

Both the Government of Ghana and the Ghana Health Service will soon be exposed by the escalating COVID-19 figures!!

Akufo-Addo’s claim that Ghana has done better in the COVID fight because we have tested more persons is a barefaced lie. It must be understood, that a higher number of tests based on contacts traced, is no proof that a country is doing better than a country with a lower number of tests. Certain countries were proactive in adopting aggressive preventive and containment measures early, thereby reducing community infections. Hence, they have lower numbers of contacts to trace and test. Ghana was sloppy from the outset, as we delayed in closing our borders and airport and allowed an influx of people from abroad into the country. This is why we have more contacts to trace and test than most African countries.

This feat cannot be an achievement but rather, a monumental failure on the part of President Akuffo-Addo to protect Ghanaians.

For emphasis, our numbers aren’t high because we are doing aggressive testing as claimed by the President. There is no better way to illustrate it than this- Fishing with a Bigger Net in an empty river doesn’t increase your Catch. Our numbers are high because of increased community spread in the country which accounts for over 80% of our cases.

In short, we are here because of Akufo-Addo’s needless tour of Europe including Norway; where one of the first 2 confirmed cases came from. The President’s failure to release GHS35 million to bolster our preparation and response plan as was recommended by the WHO right from the outset and his delayed closure of our borders etc. constitute a punishable failure. Simply put, we are in this mess because President Akufo-Addo failed to adopt aggressive Containment and Mitigation measures on time.

Secondly the trajectory of our positive cases within the last week shows that government’s claim that we were near our peak is a blatant falsehood, and the contravention of same by other astute health experts has only further exposed and deepened the dishonesty of the Akufo-Addo government in handling this COVID-19 situation.

Our alarmingly increasing positive case count, particularly community infections, in the last one week, shows that our situation is rather worsening and government must be honest about that.

Claims by Akufo-Addo and his government that the WHO has applauded Ghana for our management of the COVID-19 crises is not factual, as no such evidence exist on the WHO’s website or anywhere. We challenge government to buttress this claim with verifiable evidence. In any case, the reality on the ground bears out this claim as a spurious one.

Akufo-Addo said in his latest address that All 533 workers who tested positive for COVID-19 at a fish processing facility in Tema were infected by one person and claimed that the 921 new cases which took the case count to 4,012 were from backlogs dating as far back as April 26, 2020.

However, Prof. Ampofo of Noguchi (the President’s own relative) made it clear on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 that they had cleared all test backlogs with the only backlog being just 1,982 samples at KCCR to be cleared by Thursday, May 7.

So between President Akufo-Addo and Prof. Ampofo, who is telling the truth and who should Ghanaians believe? It’s a confusion Galore.

Akufo-Addo’s claim that those criticizing his shambolic handling of COVID-19 are doing so for political relevance is most unfortunate and speaks to his crass intolerance for dissent.

Was he not the same person who called for all-hands on deck approach to Ghana’s COVID fight? Or was he expecting all of us to line up and sing his praises when he did so?

The facts show that President Mahama and the NDC have been very supportive and responsible in Ghana’s fight against the pandemic. The NDC Technical COVID Response Team has presented two documents on alternative solutions to government. President Mahama continues to provide invaluable support and suggestions for our collective fight against the pandemic. He continues to distribute PPEs (close to 1000 PPE so far) to health workers in hospitals across the country and food to thousands of deprived households to help the COVID fight. What else does Akufo-Addo expect Mahama to do?

How many opposition leaders in the world have done this to support the governments of their countries? And when will Akufo-Addo rise above petty partisanship and commend John Dramani Mahama for his unparalleled contributions to Ghana’s COVID fight like President Buhari of Nigeria commended APC’s Atiku?

Can Akufo-Addo tell us any support he offered the Mahama government or the nation during the Ebola crises? Has he forgotten how he fiercely criticized the Mahama government and in some cases, engaged in shameful doomsaying on Ebola? Has he forgotten how he formed a shadow cabinet whiles in opposition? And was he seeking political relevance then?

The NDC as a responsible opposition has a duty to the nation to keep government on its toes through constructive criticisms and alternative solution proposals and no attempt to gag us into silence or coerce us into singing the praises of an inept President will wash.

More importantly, beyond the empty rhetoric, President Akufo-Addo failed to address the critical challenges confronting Ghana’s COVID-19 fight in his latest address.

Ghana’s COVID-19 testing regime still remains very slow and inefficient, with tested persons having to wait for 2/3 weeks, and in some cases, more than one month for their test results.

Also, tests are still based solely on contact tracing. When will we begin mass testing to comprehensively check community infections and ascertain our true rate of infection?

Public education is still poor. This accounts for the ever-worsening non-adherence to precautionary protocols by the populace. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the NCCE hasn’t received a dime from government for their work, especially community education. They need funds; not just face masks as Akufo-Addo promised in his address.

Availability of PPE for our health professionals still remains a huge challenge. Over 30 doctors and nurses have been infected by the virus so far. There are still loud complaints from the GMA and health professionals about the lack of basic protective gear. Yet, Akufo-Addo has resourced the Jean Mensa-led EC to procure PPE for EC officials for the purposes of the needless new voters register.

Can Akufo-Addo direct those funds into the procurement of more PPE for our health professionals?

As for Akufo-Addo’s 419 recycled promise that he will build 94 hospitals in one (1) year, the least said about it the better. He has failed to fulfill the one district, one hospital promise he made to Ghanaians in the run up to the 2016 general elections on Page 34, paragraph G of NPP’s 2016 manifesto. He hasn’t built a single hospital in almost 4 years despite being the most resourced President in Ghana’s history, with over GHS260 billion, made up of GHS115 billion borrowings, about GHS130 billion tax revenues and about 15bn in oil revenues and GHS6 billion in grants.

He should first complete the hundreds of abandoned Mahama health infrastructure projects across the country, before he decides to waste the tax payer’s money on fraudulent sod-cuttings for votes. Ghanaians will not be hoodwinked by his deceptive “Agenda 88” or whatever fraudulent promises again.

Akufo-Addo must understand that the 2020 elections will not just be about promises but also a comparison of records. He should stop making “419” promises and tell us what he has done with his unprecedented total resources of over GHS260 billion he has had in the last 3 and half years.

Mr. Akufo-Addo, Ghanaians are being infected with coronavirus day in day out. Health workers are badly exposed to this deadly virus because of lack of PPEs.

Why are we not testing all health and frontline workers every week or two weeks? Doctors have been trying to test their staff for weeks but can’t even get info on cases in their area to know if it’s a high risk zone.

We come into contact with so many people daily without PPEs its scary. What about testing of our market women, taxi drivers and porters Have u been to the market to see what is going on there.

What about testing all factory workers and all security personnel? They are also at very high risk. We can start from there and that should give us a much better picture of the situation. So far our testing is very limited, shady and spotty. What can ordinary Ghanaians do to protect themselves when the President is not seen to be exemplary in wearing a nose mask as shown in coronavirus adverts on billboards mushrooming in major towns in the country.

In the face of the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Jean Mensa- led Electoral Commission has been pushing an agenda to change the current voters register.

Jean Mensa and the NPP must note this commonsensical adage among some Akans: “do not call the forest that you sheltered in the past, a jungle.”

Additionally, our Akan elders have said that “he who cannot dance will say the drum is bad.”

Indeed, the voters register is not bad but Jean Mensa doesn’t know how to dance as an Electoral Commission Boss to the drum beats of the Ghanaian public: Dont rusk Ghanaian lives at this period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It looks curious to see the Electoral Commission and the NPP administration in cahoots trying to create an avenue to enable them allow the new voters registration to start; but the million cedis question is: DO THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION AND THE NPP ADMINISTRATION CARE ABOUT THE LIVES OF GHANAINS? The obvious answer is NO

Where are the Health Experts who know the real COVID-19 figures? Won’t they speak up to counteract the massaged figures being presented to the general public by scripted robot Ministers of State?

Even the commoner on the street can tell you that, doing a new registration exercise now can be dangerous, so how come those who are educated can’t think straight. Is this another indirect all-die-be-die statement? Lord have mercy

Don’t you think that the Jean Mensa-led Electoral Commission are very wicked people and who don’t care about Ghanaians?

The new voter registration exercise will require that everyone will converge at a polling station and interact with Electoral Commission staff and write their names and fill out a form, meet security personnel and possibly interact with party agents.

Can’t you see that we will be exposing ourselves to COVID-19? Won’t the registration exercise be dangerous to Ghanaians?

The most serious and dangerous process is going to be the finger print capture where every registrant will put his/her fingers on ONE particular machine to be able to get the process complete. Again, are we not exposing ourselves and isn’t that very dangerous

We are being told to wash our hands and use hand sanitizers; but is it a guarantee to kill the coronavirus ? How sure we that every finger placed on that machine will be clean of the virus? Is it not another way to spread the virus?

Recently, government officials exhibited incompetence in sharing food to the needy and vulnerable in society during a three week government enforced COVID-19 lockdown.

How can the citizens trust the NPP government and the EC to be competent when a voter registration is not for the needy only but every class of persons will need to register to get their names written in the so-called register?

Nana Akufo-Addo’s government wants to derail a country that has been a beacon of hope for Africa with their parochial interests. These are the descendants of the people who planned and killed Kwame Nkrumah’s dreams of making Ghana a paradise. If you know you know. Indeed monkeys play by sizes.

There is a GA adage that says that, “the rain beats the leopard’s skin but it does not wash out its spots.[Interpretation: Old habits die hard. If you are known in your community for one thing (especially, that which is bad), it will be very difficult for the society to change its opinion about you even if you one day do good things. Impressions count a lot.]

Ghanaians are wide awake and some of us will not allow these groups of people to hold Ghana hostage

Let me leave you with this GA adage, “in the presence of the head, the knee does not wear a hat.” (Interpretation: If you invest all your resources in one venture, you stand the risk of losing all and suffering the painful consequences. Before you do anything at all, make sure that you have a back-up for it. In other words, it is dangerous for you to plunge yourself into a situation without any careful effort.)

I ask of Nana Addo and Jean Mensa: Have you thought about the positive cases of the coronavirus in Ghana and the rate at which it’s spreading?

Come to think about it as Ghanaians, did you in your wildest dream think that the government could pay for our water and electricity bills for months? If there is a will, there is a way.

We are very lucky that we can learn from the mistakes of others and do it right with our limited resources. Italy and America started it wrong and are paying dearly for it. They had the resources and advice to start it right but having baboons in government who think they know more than the professionals. We started (just a couple of weeks late) right but started to mess up along the way.

Now even the White House of the United States of America is in chaos. It’s just a matter of time before Trump and his Vice get it if they don’t start wearing masks.

In Ghana the report that we have done 160,000 tests. Do you know who was tested? Most will survive once infected but will you?

Why are so many Ghanaians outside dying? Do we really have only 22 Coronavirus related deaths?

Some countries have gone back and realized that they missed some cases that have already died so they are changing their figures.

Testing will continue despite the hard financial times because that is the only way we can tell if we are getting somewhere and our positive numbers will keep going up.

The most annoying thing is that after a few days your test result is useless and our tests can also miss some positives and those who test positive would have come into contact with innocent people again.

My only suggestion is that now we need to prioritize and get the testing results quicker. Very soon the contacts will be so many that we will have to stop the tracing and start selection.

The Dragon has been unleashed and if medical advice is not followed to the letter by all then soon most of us will be infected and it will become survival of the fittest.

Social distancing and masks have helped New York reduce their numbers drastically. If we don’t find a way to enforce it we will continue to battle this infection for years.

Let’s those who are in power and have the biggest so called microphone think of a new strategy to make people understand what is really going on.

If necessary show Ghanaians the victims on National television to scare the religious fanatics and illiterates. Instead of putting politicians on banners let’s start putting realistic and informative pictures.

The dragon is unleashed and already in motion devouring and if we don’t get it under control we will not be able conduct elections on 7th December 2020.

Nana Akuffo Addo has unleashed the Dragon and its a violent force called the CoronaVirus that cannot be controlled.

I believe Nana Akufo Addo just wants us to be the leader in Africa in the case count because some monies that have come into their coffers need to be spent at all cost.

Remember MONEY AND POWER CAN NOT BUY BACK LOST LIVES. Protect the Ghanaian and KEEP OFF THE VOTERS REGISTRATION EXERCISE.

We won’t register Ghanaians and later bury our beloved COVID-19 victims.

A voter’s registration exercise will lead to a fast spread of COVID-19 in Ghana Each one for himself and God will help us all.

Beware!!!!

Author: T.T. Caternor is ringing the bell loudly: Ding dong! Ding dong!!! From La Dadekotpon