Flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama on Sunday, April 19, 2020, visited Koluedor and Borteiman, both in the Greater Accra Region to personally hand over food items to some 200 households in the two communities.
According to the former President, the move is part of his presentation of relief items to 20,000 households in Accra, Kumasi, Tema and Kasoa areas.
“As part of my feed 20,000 households relief effort, I selected 200 households in two communities in the Greater Accra Region where I joined a team of volunteers to share some food items. The focus of my intervention was to support our brothers and sisters facing severe challenges as a result of the lockdown and the advice to stay home to help halt the spread of COVID-19.”
Speaking on the sidelines of the presentation, Mr Mahama indicated that “to ensure adequate social distancing and respect of the World Health Organization (WHO) protocols, I visited the homes and handed over the items to them, instead of a crowded distribution option.”
He also advised community members to adhere to safety precautions as indicated by the government to ensure that the coronavirus pandemic ends soon.
“As the authorities have said, we should continue to observe social distancing, we should wash our hands frequently with running water and we should also avoid mass gatherings and so where you see plenty people gathered, don’t go into the crowd so that you prevent yourself from getting the coronavirus. Also, people should stay at home as much as possible, I mean if you have nothing important to do, don’t come out, just stay at home so that we can slow down the spread of the virus.”
“We have come and distributed some food to a few houses, there are some more to do so we have our volunteers who are going to go to the other houses and distribute them. This is just our widow’s mite, the little contribution we have to support people through these moments, so we are praying that coronavirus will disappear from our country very soon so that we can get back to normal as fast as possible. Let us all collaborate with the government and the health authorities so that they can protect us from this coronavirus,” he added.
Meanwhile, the former President has also been donating some Personal Protective Equipment to various health facilities across the country in the fight against COVID-19.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Sunday lifted the lockdown imposed on Kasoa, Greater Kumasi and Greater Accra Metropolitan areas whilst maintaining restrictions on public gatherings.
He also announced that the country’s case count of the coronavirus had shot up to 1,042.
Mahama suggests extension of lockdown
Prior to the lifting of the lockdown, Mr. Mahama urged the government to extend the three-week lockdown imposed on the Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Areas.
“Recent developments have made it clear, the extent of the spread of the virus. The last report put the number of confirmed cases at 834. Many health experts continue to suggest the necessity and appropriateness of an extension of the restrictions on movement,” the former President tweeted.
