The global health crisis has so far overwhelmed many countries, with the pandemic claiming thousands of lives in the process. For a disease which started far away in the Chinese city of Wuhan, its quick spread across the world has been unimaginable at best.
Currently, over 1.3 million people have tested positive for the virus in over 200 countries but, even worse, the numbers seem to further increase with each passing day.
Four weeks ago, Ghana recorded its first two COVID-19 cases – a development which immediately plunged some citizens into panic mode. While the number of positive patients has since increased to 566 (as of April 13), the country has so far shown enough desire to fight the pandemic.
And at the forefront of this is its President, Nana Akufo-Addo.
Firm Leadership
Across the world, if there’s any leader who has seen his stock rise the most during this crisis period, it has to be President Akufo-Addo. The Ghana President has been careful not to be on the wrong side of a frustrated citizenry, but he has also been very daring and firm.
The decision to initiate “compulsory” social distancing protocols by banning all public gatherings did not sit well with many people, especially when it affected some cultural and religiously powerful institutions.
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It’s one thing to ask school children to stay home, but it’s entirely another to look at religious leaders in the face and tell them not to gather their congregants for church service or mosque prayers. But such a firm decision has turned out to be an effective way of combating the spread of COVID-19.
This was followed by President Akufo-Addo’s announcement of the closure of all Ghana’s air, land and sea borders to human trafficking. This decision means that nobody would be allowed in or out of the country, except for goods, supplies and cargo.
By this, Ghana practically killed any chances of attracting more imported COVID-19 cases and bought the country’s health workers a bit of time to contact-trace and treat the infected persons who are already in the country.
Then the biggest and most important decision of all followed. President Akufo-Addo announced a two-week partial lockdown in some parts of the country, including Accra, Tema and Kumasi and extended it by another week. These were all hard decisions, but they have reality helped to keep Ghana’s Coronavirus case count down.
Not just a quote
It’s not by chance that Akufo-Addo’s popularity has soared across the world in the last few weeks. Just over a week ago, his popular quote about prioritising humanity over the economy caught the attention of many. It made him a world favourite.
"We know what to do to bring our economy back to life. What we do not know how to do is to bring people back to life,” he said during an address to the nation.
This now-famous quote endeared Akufo-Addo to both local and global audience and earned him praise from the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, British broadcaster Piers Morgan and other global stars.
In spite of this, the real test was whether the Ghana President would be able to walk the talk. Talking big and doing much less has become synonymous with leaders and, to be fair, this nicely crafted quote could have been a mere PR gimmick.
However, the following weeks have proven that Akufo-Addo’s famous speech was more than just a quote.
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Decisive interventions
More than just a quote, the Ghana President has backed his words with decisive interventions to ensure that the country is protected and its people also well catered for.
The partial lockdown has obviously created unplanned inconveniences to many citizens, but the government’s decision to absorb water bills and provide free water and 50% off electricity bills for all citizens for the next three months is a very commendable move.
Add that to the fact that all frontline health workers fighting the virus have been given a three-month tax holiday beginning April 2020.
Also, frontline health workers will receive an additional allowance of fifty per cent (50%) of their basic salary per month.
These interventions are exactly what Ghanaians need at the moment and the President has been at the forefront of it all. Ghana is still a long way from a perfect country and the battle to combat COVID-19 will get more intense in the coming weeks.
The country is also likely to record more positive cases. However, firm and decisive leadership is the only thing that can see us through. Thankfully, Akufo-Addo is currently providing the kind of leadership needed and, should it continue, Ghana is definitely bound to come out of this crisis a happy nation – one with as minimal casualties as possible.