The Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference has taken on the two main political parties in the country over their failure to ensure strict compliance with the prescribed safety protocols to stem the spread of COVID-19.
According to the group, the increasing rate of infection recorded in the country is a matter of grave concern and that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) disregard for the measures is worrisome.
The conference noted the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary primaries held in June, as well as the unveiling of NDC Flagbearer Mahama’s running mate on Monday and said the parties have taken the country’s fight against the pandemic for granted.
“Our point is that we expected the government to live by example, but if you look at what happened at the primaries and other organized events of the government and the recent announcement of the running mate of the NDC, social distancing was not observed at all.”
“The NPP and NDC should have shown examples of how people should not be transmitting the virus from one person to others,” the President of the Bishop Conference, Most Rev. Philip Naameh indicated on Eyewitness News.
Voter registration protocol breach
In a separate statement, the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference also lamented what they described as the high level of disregard for the observance of the safety measures at such public gatherings as the ongoing mass voter registration exercise.
The bishops said the wearing of nose masks and social distancing must be strictly enforced at the registration centres.
“The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has observed with great concern the high level of disregard for the observance of the COVID-19 protocols in the ongoing voters’ registration exercise,” the release said.
Parts of the statement read: “We encourage all qualified Ghanaians to make the necessary effort to take part in the voters’ registration exercise. We also wish to appeal to same to take the personal responsibility to ensure that they observe all the necessary health protocols, especially those of social distancing and the wearing of face masks, during the registration exercise and at all social and public gatherings.”
Meanwhile, the Bishops have asked the government to deploy more security personnel to the various registration centers for the mass voter registration exercise to enforce strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols.
“We also wish to appeal to the Government to assist the Electoral Commission with more Security Personnel who can ensure strict adherence to the protocols, especially social distancing and the wearing of face masks, at the various Registration Centres. While we focus our concerns on national events that attract crowds of people, we also appeal to all to accept the reality of COVID-19 and thus modify their behaviours to conform to the safety guidelines”, the statement concluded.