President Nana Akufo-Addo is unhappy with attempts by the Minority side in Parliament to introduce what he calls “ill-judged politics” into debates surrounding the coronavirus outbreak.
The President said this only tends to spread fear and panic among students in China.
“We have a delicate situation on our hands, Mr. Speaker and it doesn’t benefit anybody to try to score points by introducing ill-judged politics into this ongoing medical conundrum and humanitarian tragedy. And I entreat this honourable house to set up an example by helping to pour oil over troubled waters instead of instigating tension and spreading fear and panic among the young people,” the President said while delivering his 2020 State of the Nation Address in Parliament.
Following the outbreak of the Coronavirus, there have been calls from the Minority, the China chapter of National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) and parents to evacuate Ghanaian students from the country.
The Minority Caucus in Parliament a few days ago gave Government a three-day ultimatum to evacuate Ghanaians living in China in the midst of the ravaging coronavirus.
The caucus said it is unfathomable that President Akufo-Addo has remained quiet on the matter since the outbreak while his administration seems unmoved by the distress calls of particularly Ghanaian students in China.
The Caucus said it is equally minded by the available WHO protocols on evacuations and will insist those protocols are followed in the evacuation process.
We haven’t ruled out the possibility of evacuating students
The President in response to these calls indicated that the government had not ruled out the possibility of evacuating Ghanaians in China.
He said the government will ensure that students are evacuated if the need arises.
“The government is in constant touch with experts on the subject who have advised that the basic principle of public health is to confine the disease to the area of origin but we have not ruled out the option of evacuating the students from Wuhan if that becomes necessary. We have put in place measures to ensure that the evacuation back into Ghana if it happens, does not lead to the dissemination of fear and panic amongst the general population.”
The President said since the outbreak of the Coronavirus, the government through its mission also “supplies logistics and the embassy has given so far 500 dollars to each student.”
“However, we know that no amount of logistics will make up for the extreme stress and trauma that these young people are going through,” the President said.
He said the Chinese government had also offered its support to students since the outbreak.