So, where is the 'set aside' $100 million to fight coronavirus?

I looked for the definition of “set aside” in the dictionary and got this meaning in a sentence. “To set aside is to reserve something for a specific purpose” In other words, you can set aside something if you have equal value or more for a specific purpose.

It is over a month now since Nana Akufo-Addo in a televised broadcast told the world that his government has “set aside” a cedi equivalent of $100 million to fight against COVID-19. The following day, his Finance Minister was in parliament telling Ghanaians that he was now going to apply to the World Bank for that loan. So the almighty question is “where is the $100 million the President had set aside?”

If the President didn’t know where the money was at the time of his speech, it shows clearly that the President was misled again. This President has been misled since day one and he continues to be misled. The annoying thing is those who have been misleading the President are still around him and advising him. No one has been sacked. Let those misleading the President know that nobody died when they misled him on Ameri, Oslo, PDS, parliament chamber and the rest, but people will die in their thousands if they continue to mislead the President on COVID-19. COVID-19 is a deadly disease and Ghanaians need serious minds to tell the President when he is loosing the fight. If Ursula Owusu and Otiko Djaba told President Atta-Mills that he is inviting President Kuffour to the flag staff house because he lacks ideas to rule the country, what would they have told President Mahama if President Mahama were the President today and he had invited the opposition parties to the flag staff house for a discussion on COVID-19? Are these two women alive to see Akufo-Addo inviting the opposition parties to the flag staff house to discuss COVID-19? Has Akufo-Addo run out of ideas to fight COVID-19? In the little minds of Ursula Owusu and Otibo Djaba, NPP in government can invite people to the seat of government and discuss matters of national interest but NDC in government cannot do that. Have they seen how COVID-19 has reduced their wisdom to foolishness?

Is it true that a seat was reserved for John Mahama, when the opposition parties met Akuffo-Addo last week? Is it also true that those who organized the meeting knew ahead of time that John Mahama was not going to be at the meeting? So what was the purpose of reserving a seat for someone who was not going to attend a meeting? Was it another break of protocol, lack of common sense or incompetence?

Did Akufo-Addo know JM was not attending the meeting, and what did he do or say when he saw a chair reserved for John Mahama? So when will this government get everything right from beginning to the end? It is not funny anymore.

The jokes, incompetence, and mistakes of this government are becoming too many. COVID-19 in the hands of this Nana’s administration is too risky. STAY HOME.

Lawrence Appiah-Osei