C/R: 131 persons in police custody for breaching COVID-19 protocols

One hundred and thirty-one (131) persons have been arrested by the Central Regional Police command for breaching COVID-19 safety protocols.

They were arrested for not wearing nose masks.

Speaking at the launch of a disinfection exercise in basic and senior high schools in the region by waste management company Zoomlion, Regional Police Commander COP Paul Manly Awini said the arrested persons will be processed for court while officers engage stakeholders to ensure all directives are adhered to.

“We are very much aware that our role is a humanitarian one in support of the lead agency which is the Ghana Health Service. And so from day one when these protocols were issued by his Excellency, I must say that some people fallen foul of the law as far as observing some of these protocols were concerned. Today, we have arrested 131 persons who breached these protocols, and they are all being processed for court.”

A new Executive Instrument (E.I. 164) signed by President Akufo-Addo on June 15, 2020, as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has made it an offence for refusing to wear a face mask in public.

The punishment is a prison sentence of four to 10 years or a fine of GH¢12,000 to GH¢60,000 or both.

The E.I. was issued by the President pursuant to the powers granted him under the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (Act 1012).

Per E.I. 164, which was gazetted on Monday, June 15, the mandatory wearing of face masks shall be in force for three months and shall apply to all parts of Ghana.

The Ghana Police has been mandated to enforce compliance of the E.I.

President Akufo-Addo in his 11th nationwide address to the nation announced that the wearing of face masks has now been made mandatory in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central and Western regions where the number of people contracting the virus has surged.

“…Ghanaians must remember that the wearing of masks is now mandatory. Leaving our homes without our face masks or face covering on is an offence,” the President said in the Sunday address.