GH¢50 – 100 spot fine enough for coronavirus violators - Professor Peter Quartey

Professor Peter Quartey, Director of the Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research, ISSER; has asked for a review of the penalty relative to non-wearing of face masks. He said the high monetary penalty currently in place was not working and needed to be revised.

“I think the penalty is quite punitive and is not working, we may have to revise that quickly. A spot fine of about GH¢50 to GH¢100 I believe is punitive enough to stop people from disobeying the protocols,” he told Accra–based Joy FM.

According to the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (Act 1012), failure to comply with mask-wearing and other protocols could attract a fine of between GH¢12,000 and GH¢60,000 and/or imprisonment between 4 and 10 years.

Paragraph 4(2) of accompanying Executive Instrument 164 states that any person who fails to comply with the mandatory wearing of nose masks shall be punished in accordance with Section 6 of Act 1012.

Section 6 of Act 1012 reads, “a person who fails to comply with the restrictions imposed under the Executive Instrument issued under subsection 1 of Section 2 commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than 1,000 penalty units (GH¢12,000) and not more than 5,000 penalty units (GH¢60,000) or to a term of imprisonment not less than four years and not more than 10 years or to both.”

The professor is not alone in making the call. Civil Society group, Occupy Ghana in a recent statement averred that the measures despite being well-intentioned to be draconian “have proven to be unrealistic.”

What Occupy Ghana said about mask-wearing violation sanctions

Enforcing the mask mandate is also very important. Masks have been shown to break the spread. We must enforce the terms of the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (Act 1012). However, we think that the punishments in the Act have hardly been applied.

This is because although the prescribed fine of between GHS12,000 and GHS60,000 and/or imprisonment between 4 and 10 years might have been well-intentioned to be draconian and convey the seriousness of the situation, they have proven to be unrealistic.

Parliament has to consider an amendment of the Act in this light, to aid its enforcement and to provide for realistic fines and other deterrents such as community service for those who breach the law.