Akufo-Addo under pressure to apologise for flouting COVID-19 protocols at Sir John’s funeral

• President Akufo-Addo attended the funeral of Sir John

• He together with his ministers disregarded the COVID-19 protocols

• The Minority in Parliament are demanding an apology from the President

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has come under immense criticism from the public for flouting the Imposition of Restriction Act, 2020 (Act 1012) during the funeral of the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie a.k.a. Sir John, over the weekend.

The President at the funeral completely disregarded the physical distancing directive and the use of the nose mask as the law prescribe. The aspect of Act 1012, which talks about the ban on funerals and private burials limited to 25 mourners was also disregarded. The Act also prohibits mass gatherings amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

This has made the Minority in Parliament demand an apology from the President.

Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka in a JoyNews report sighted by GhanaWeb said the president’s action and that of his ministers and other top government functionaries was in breach of Act 1012.

“The President owes us an apology that as a Commander in Chief he was there when this thing happened, I mean nothing could be said rather than for him to apologise to the rest of the country,” the Minority Chief Whip said.

On his part, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh accused the government of being selective in the application of the law.

He noted, it is wrong for the Akufo-Addo-led administration to slap several individuals with charges for breaching the COVID-19 safety protocols whilst they engaged in similar unlawful practices.

“We are looking at the law enforcers, we are looking forward to seeing some form of prosecution and some punishment for people who are found culpable because you cannot decide to make one set of rules or Laws for Ghanaians and you will decide to break the laws at any given point in time, we don’t do that.”

“I think the President must lead by example and you have made clear laws that people should not gather more than 25 at a funeral then you have a funeral where almost all the cabinet ministers were present, the vice president was present and the president himself, you and I know what killed Sir John in this country and we saw the president file past that corpse,” Akandoh stated.

Three members of the Christ Embassy Church and the manager of the Fantasy Dome have been slapped with charges for breaching COVID-19 protocols during a recent church event that hosted thousands of worshippers despite the ban on the social gathering.

Akandoh is of the view that the law should be enforced to serve as a deterrent to others.

“We are all not above the law so, in all honesty, I think that something must be done about it, the president before any prosecution must come back and address the whole nation on this matter and apologise,” he stressed.