Lifting Lockdown: 'We're better off with hardship than to die from coronavirus - NDC MP

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Juaboso Constituency, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has kicked against the decision by President Akufo-Addo to lift the ban on movement in some parts of the country considered to be the epicentres of the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to him, in as much as he agrees that the lockdown will impose hardships on some Ghanaians due to their socio-economic status, it was not advisable for the President to have lifted the lockdown and allow free movement in areas considered to be epicentres.

Speaking on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Mintah Akandoh asserted that Ghanaians are better off with the hardships opposed by the partial lockdown than to die from the virus.

“What I agree with everybody is that this lockdown will bring hardship on Ghanaians, but we are better off with hardship than to die from the virus. What it means is that, those who are in hardships and those without food, we must put proper measures in place. Simply because people are complaining they don’t have food to eat means they should go out to die,” he baffled.

To him, it is unfathomable for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to urge Ghanaians to stay at home at a point in his address to the nation on the state of the COVID-19 after lifting the ban on movement.

“After saying all these things, he turns around to say that people should stay at home. The same person who says he has lifted ban on movement at a point in his speech will urge Ghanaians to stay at home. Why should people stay at home after lifting the ban on movement?” he wondered.

He, however, advised Ghanaians against going out when the country is recording higher figures of the novel coronavirus, hinting that the current situation of the COVID-19 is more dangerous than it started in the country.

“My humble advice to every Ghanaian is that I will plead with them that it is even now dangerous to go out. The situation we find ourselves in now, it is more dangerous than we started with and so everybody should protect themselves especially if it reaches the most populous suburbs like; Mamobi, Nima and other such areas where the most vulnerable people reside," he advised.

President Nana Akufo-Addo has lifted the three-week partial lockdown imposed in the Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi districts with effect from 1 am Monday, 20th April 2020.

President Akufo-Addo announced this during his seventh address to the nation on the outbreak today, Sunday, April 19, 2020.