<<Print>>

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has responded to comments by critics regarding how his government is handling the pandemic outbreak of Coronavirus in the country.

Ex-President John Dramani Mahama and members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have held strong views that the President is taking poor decisions in addressing the pandemic and also questioned his exit plan from the current situation confronting Ghanaians.

Mr. Mahama believes the President has no clue how to stabilize the economy and even more compounding the plight of Ghanaians during this pandemic.

"From 3,091 to 4,012 #COVID19 cases within 24 hours; Government is certainly failing the people of Ghana. Fear gripped many homes last night when the latest confirmed cases were released. And that is understandable. #COVID19 is real, my brothers and sisters. I want to encourage you, yet again, to protect yourself. Regular hand washing with soap and under running water is a must. Stay Home, but if you have to go out for any reason including work, wear your mask, take along a hand sanitizer, and always disinfect commonly used and touched surfaces. And, let us continue to remember the poor & needy. They need our support," he posted on his Facebook wall.

Also during his regular digital conversations on the pandemic, Mr. Mahama held that the President's promise to construct 94 hospitals in one year won't come into fruition, adding that President Akufo-Addo has abandoned health facilities that he (Mahama) constructed before leaving office.

But in a sharp riposte to his political opponents, President Akufo-Addo says his decisions and policies have rather proven fruitful as many Ghanaians have been spared from contracting the deadly disease.

"The implementation of our strategy of aggressively tracing, testing and treating is our surest way of rooting out the virus. This early identification of persons with the virus ensures that they do not spread the virus to others; we are provided with the opportunity to treat them; and it helps us to understand better the dynamics of the virus.

"The rapid implementation of all of our policies has resulted in our low infection, hospitalisation and death rates, some of the lowest in Africa and the world," he asserted.

President Akufo-Addo further called on Ghanaians to ignore his critics because they have nothing better to offer them other than to seek their own "political survival".

"I know some political actors will want you to believe that our current numbers represent a failure on the part of Government. Do not begrudge them. They need to make such comments for their political survival," he said.