By Benjamin Mensah, GNA
Accra, Feb 20, GNA - The Government of Ghana has not ruled out the option of evacuating Ghanaian students from Wuhan in China, affected by CoVID-19, if it becomes necessary, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assured on Thursday in Accra.
Delivering the 2020 State of the Nation Address to Parliament, the President empathised with parents, and students studying in Wuhan, China, where the COVID-19 broke out since last December.
Ghanaian students have appealed to the Government of Ghana for evacuation back home, an appeal which has also since been supported by the Minority Side National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The NDC last week Tuesday gave the Government a three-day deadline, which matured on February 15, 2020.
The Minority indicated its disquiet on why no word had come from the President since the outbreak of the disease.
The Minority also earlier threatened to boycott the 2020 SoNA if the Government failed to release five per cent of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund (DACF), and on Thursday staged a walkout moments before the President delivered the 2020 SONA.
Delivering the 2020 SoNA, President acknowledged “the extreme stress and trauma these young people are going through” and said “the government is in constant talk with the experts on the subject.”
He said experts advise that the best principle of public health is to confine the disease to the area of origin, but the Government has “not ruled out the option of evacuating the students from Wuhan if that becomes necessary.”
President Akufo-Addo said government adopted measures to avoid the spread of the virus should the government evacuate the students, and advised against “introducing ill-judged politics into this ongoing medical conundrum.
“We have a delicate situation on our hands, Mr Speaker, and it does not benefit anybody who tries to score points by introducing ill-judged politics into this ongoing medical conundrum and humanitarian tragedy,” the President said and entreated members of the House to help quench the fears surrounding the disease.
The President said since the outbreak of the disease, the Government through its mission is supplying logistics, and the Embassy has given so far 500 dollars to each student.
Also, the Chinese Government had offered support to students since the outbreak.
He indicated however clearly that “no amount of logistics will make up for the extreme stress and trauma that these young people are going through.
The SONA, which was in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana, was to update Ghanaians on the Government’s progress and outline plans for the next financial year.
It covered the performance of the economy, education health, security and infrastructure among other issues of national interest.
The President gave pluses to the Government on its performance, declaring that: “The message of the State of the Nation is that our nation is in good health and in good competent hands.
President Akufo-Addo bantered at the Minority on its walkout and said the task of the NPP was to occupy the abandoned seats.
“My party and I know the nature of the task before as on the 7th of December, “he said, and the task is for the NPP “to occupy all these seats; that's our task," as he urged Ghanaians to retain the NPP at the next December polls.
The 2020 SoNA is President Akufo-Addo’s fourth and last SONA in his first term as President.
GNA
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