Effia-Kwesimintsim Assembly to adopt ‘naming and shaming’ in coronavirus fight

The Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly directorate of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) will be naming and shaming institutions that fail to ensure that their workers and patrons comply with protocols on COVID-19.

Naming and shaming are one of the many resolves of the Assembly to help curb the spread of the coronavirus in the municipality.

“We are getting to a stage where we will go to media houses name a church, the pastor, the location of the church and tell the public what is happening there. If the situation persists at a particular church then we will have no option but to close down the place,” warned the Municipal NADMO Director, Henry Koufie.

Mr. Kuofie was speaking on Connect FM’s morning show Omanbapa on Tuesday, February 9.

He said the Assembly is determined to work to ensure that everyone is doing what is expected “in these troubling times”.

As of Friday, February 5, three people in the Effia-Kwesimintsim municipality have died of complications from Covid-19 Assembly. There were 67 active cases within the municipality.

Following a meeting with transport operators, market women, shop owners, and other stakeholders, a team from the Assembly has been moving round to monitor whether decisions taken on Covid-19 are being implemented and also followed religiously.

“We have started moving around institutions in the Municipality. We have started with the churches first. Last weekend, the team started and visited 21 churches. At some churches, there was no soap for handwashing, thermometer guns were also not present. When you ask, you are told it is in the pastor’s office. In one instance, we were not happy with the sitting arrangement at a church, so we asked them to stop worship, rearrange the place to fit the 2-meter rule before we allowed them to continue with the service”.

He added that “what we realized was that immediately the team gets to a church, the ushers will quickly inform the congregation to wear their masks and sit well. They were able to notice us because of our uniform and the inscription on our pick-up. So, in our subsequent visits, we will not go in branded pick-ups and uniforms just so we are able to have a real assessment of the situation”.

Mr. Kuofie encouraged the public and owners of institutions to simply do what is expected of them to avoid any embarrassment.

“Nobody will be happy when we have to sanction an institution. It is even incumbent on you as the owner of a public place to make the health of your workers and your customers a priority because once the business is hit by Covid-19, you will lose money and in a worse cause scenario lose a life.”

He continued to caution that “we all should ensure that our actions will not force the President to take drastic measures like a lockdown which will not be good for all of us”.

“So, at the churches, we called on the congregation to be ambassadors of the coronavirus and ensure that their actions at the church are the same they exhibit anywhere they are and will go. In fact, we told them to talk to their colleagues who will want to flout the protocols on the dangers of their actions”.