Gov’t Has To Make Wearing Of Face Mask Mandatory – Rev. Anyani-Boadu  

I am appealing to the President of the Republic Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to initiate an appropriate and enforceable law to make wearing of face masks, mandatory for all citizens.

Considering the continues spike of the COVID-19 infection, if proper steps are not taking to eliminate and control the virus, we may live with the infection for a long time which will have adverse effect on our social life and the economy of the nation. The prudent measures of the government to lift the partial lockdown was to prevent the national economy from going into recession and also to safe the poor and the vulnerable in our society from hunger. A prolonged lockdown of a country such as Ghana could have sparked dangerous social upheavals considering the poor economic status of majority of the people.

The Ghana Health Service recently told Ghanaians that, the COVID-19 cases had reached its peak, and would only plateau before declining.

But the high level of indiscipline, indiscretion and abuse of compliance to the public health measures calls for stricter orders if Ghana is to flatten the COVID-19 curve before expecting it to decline. 

By jurisprudence, a law must be well defined with the corresponding penalties, to make it workable or meaningful. So, if the Legislative Instrument which mandated the President to lock down churches, close our borders and the airports does not cover wearing of face masks, then I am appealing to the President to ask the Attorney General to go to parliament to get a law in that regard instead of appealing to the moral suasion of the people. With the passage of such law I don't expect the security personnel to beat people who violate the law. I rather suggest such offenders must be made to do community services possibly close to COVID-19 isolation centres may be for two weeks under full media coverage. This may cause those who think the disease is not true to see for themselves the reality of the virus. I am not for custodial punishment because our prisons are already full, and we don't have the resources to monitor and enforce the law on refusal to wear the face mask by committing such people into prisons.

The COVID-19 virus like any other virus cannot capture or store energy themselves and therefore cannot function without a host organism. That is why the social or personal distancing and the wearing of nose mask is very important so that we ( people) don't play host  to the COVID-19 virus to encourage it spreading from person-to-person.

Without adhering to the public health measures and the safety protocols related to the COVID-19, the asymptomatic patients in our midst shall continue to infect many people. In such situation it will be difficult for us to think of an effective exit roadmap out of this virus.

Government should consider training more COVID-19 volunteers, to embark on a sentinel surveillance, where random sampling are done among selected groups like drivers, chop bar keepers, restaurant operators and their workers.

With the passage of the law, transport organisations should not allow any passenger or driver who refuses to wear face masks from boarding their vehi[cles.

With the passage of the law district and regional assembly's and the police should make sure the laws are obeyed in all places including markets and religious centres. What is the sense of making a law if you are not able to enforce the law?