Coronavirus: Akufo-Addo's travel ban discriminatory – Public Health Advocate

A Community Health Advocate, Samuel Arthur has described President Akufo Addo’s temporal suspension of all foreign travels for all public officials, in a bid to prevent the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease in the country as a discriminative move.

In a circular issued by the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, Hon. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, and addressed to all sector Ministers and their deputies, Regional Ministers and their deputies, all Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives, and all Heads of Government Agencies, the Chief of Staff stressed that only essential and critical foreign travels will be considered and, thereafter, approved.

“The directive, together with other measures being put in place by Government, is intended to protect the general public from contracting the virus. Please take note and ensure compliance,” the statement added.

But Mr. Samuel Arthur commenting on the President’s directive in an interview with Kwaku Owusu Adjei on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa FM 102.5FM, questioned what difference a travel ban on only public appointees will make in the preventing the outbreak of the disease.

According to him, at a time when a state of emergency has not been declared in Ghana, the President’s directive is a signal that can create fear and panic.

“The President says public officials should not travel, I’m sure people will begin to ask questions why the ban is only on public officials. Are the appointees any different from the rest of us Ghanaians? Public health goes to the social, physical, the environment and certain things around the people which come together to indicate their health. So within our social set up when we select a group of people and ban them from traveling, we need to find out what it is about the government appointees, is it that they are special?

Mr Arthur added: “When we come to the public health setting what are we seeking to achieve? Are these people the only people in the country. Have we identified them as a high-risk group, how many times do they travel abroad in a year? There are people who are not government appointees who travel every now and then and some of these people interact with these government officials in-country. Granted that government officials in country do not travel, people go abroad who interact with them, visitors always visit the offices of Ministers so if you restrict their movement but there are other people who have access to them it’s like you’re suffering from stomach ache and you rub your tummy with an ointment, you’ve done nothing. For me, we could have thought through the directive.”