Stop wasting time; lockdown the country again - Odike

Akwasi Addae Odike, popularly known only as ‘Odike’, has chided President AKufo-Addo for what he believes is his failure to lockdown the country for the second time, owing to the rising numbers of coronavirus cases.

The Founder and leader of the United Progressive Party said that there was no need for the president to have double thoughts on whether or not to send the country back into lockdown when it is glaring the current figures are similar to the ones from last year that necessitated the first lockdown.

Speaking on OTEC Fm’s Dwaberem on Monday, January 18, 2021, Odike said that even if there is a lockdown for a week, it would help in the re-imposition of the protocols, stressing that it would be independently difficult for only the police to enforce them.

He added that it is quite problematic that while the president is advocating for the greater populace to strictly adhere to the health and safety protocols for COVID-19, he and his appointees give little room for people to take them seriously because of their own actions that flout the protocols.

“There is evidence that a former Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah, who sneaked into public to mingle with party members when he clearly knew that he had tested positive for the virus and was never penalized for it,” he explained.

These and more, the business mogul said, contribute to many Ghanaians being of the false impression that the virus has been eradicated, allowing them to let their guards down in respecting the protocols.

He, therefore, wants the president to immediately order for a lockdown of the entire country rather than wait until the situation further escalates, making all the efforts parents and guardians will put into sending their children back to school, futile.

Ghana’s COVID-19 cases have seen a sharp rise in numbers with the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo sending an indication that if the continuous flouting of the safety protocols persists, he will have no other option than to initiate a partial lockdown in the country again.