Coronavirus: $4,200 support given Ghana mission in China inadequate – Minority leader

Minority Leader in parliament, Haruna Iddrisu has stated that Ghana’s embassy in China needs more funds to support emergency efforts in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

He says the US$4,200 allocated to support the embassy is woefully inadequate.

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Habib Tijani, in a statement to parliament, revealed that an equivalent of US$4,200 had been made available to Ghana’s mission in China while government discusses the possibility of evacuating Ghanaians in that country.

But speaking on the floor of the house, Tuesday, February 4, 2020, the minority leader said “a $100,000 emergency fund must be able to support the Ghanaian authorities in China. To come and say $4,200 (is not enough).”

Meanwhile, Ghana’s mission in China has given the China chapter of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) 50,000RMB (US$7,164) for the procurement of food and protective items for distressed members.

This was after NUGS-China called for the evacuation of all their members in China.

The Union expressed fears over the wellbeing of Ghanaian students in the country after international students were left stranded due to the indefinite postponement of reopening dates of most universities in the country.

Over 400 persons have reportedly died from coronavirus in China since its outbreak in December 2019 with about 20,000 cases recorded.

The World Health Organisation declared the disease a global emergency after over 150 cases were confirmed in other countries with the Philippines recording one death.