Gov’t responsiveness against Covid-19 saves Ghanaians -Oppong Nkrumah

The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, says the government’s efforts in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic have yielded positive results in the containment of the virus spread.
He said proactive measures such as restrictions on travels, containment of spread within the Ghanaian eco-system, awareness creation and care for the sick, limitations on social and economic activities, and taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the Covid-19 in the expansion of domestic capability and deepen self-reliance, had safeguarded the populace.
Mr. Nkrumah said the country was not badly hit like others due to early education and implementation of safety protocols, which were observed, including engaging the various agencies responsible for information dissemination, as well as those in the health sector.
The Information Minister said this on a multi-stakeholder engagement to scale-up and strengthen efforts to fighting Covid-19 in Ghana, held by the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), in collaboration with STAR-Ghana Foundation.
The meeting was organised virtually on Wednesday on the theme: “Sharing lessons promoting collaboration and visioning a future with Covid-19.”
Mr. Nkrumah said: “These interventions have helped to ease the restrictions in the country, as secondary and tertiary institutions are opening with all protocols being observed, as well as normalising the living capacities of the people.”
He said other government interventions, include investing in the testing capacities across the 16 regions of the country by providing machinery, logistics for laboratory testing, providing a human resource for efficiency, ensuring a direct stakeholder engagement between political parties, civil society organizations, and traditional rulers with the aim of achieving a common goal of fighting this pandemic.
Mr. Senyo Hosi, representing the private sector, said the sector had and continued to support the government in the fight against the pandemic in the country.
Mr. Hosi indicated that the private sector started the Ghana Covid-19 Private Sector Fund to provide a prompt response to the hardship and suffering arising out of the pandemic since March 2020 when the country began to record cases.
“Through the fund, the private sector has constructed Ghana’s first 100-bed Infectious Disease Facility Center in Accra to house the first batch of critically ill Covid-19 patients for treatment. In addition to its support, the fund also fed the underprivileged during the lockdown in the country, as well as feeding the front-line health workers.”
Alhaji Amidu Ibrahim-Tanko of STAR-Ghana Foundation shed light on some of the successes civil society organisations in the country chalked together with the private sector, and the role the media played in providing critical information on the COVID-19.
According to him, the operations of civil society organisations (CSOs) had been heavily affected by the pandemic, as support from donor organisations had regrettable declined and been repurposed.
He also called for local philanthropists to support CSOs as a way of sustaining their future.
Mr. Tanko reiterated that in April this year, STAR-Ghana Foundation had initiated its coordinated response programme to complement and deepen planned and ongoing efforts of the civil society sector.
The project is christened the ‘Ghana Covid-19 Response Project’ (CRP) with its aim of supporting and coordinating civil society actions around Covid-19 prevention, management, and mitigation.
The virtual meeting was aimed at providing the enabling environment of stakeholders across the various sectors to share lessons and experiences from their respective COVID-19 responses in Ghana.

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