Ghanaian actress, Lydia Forson has asked the government to be transparent and give more information rather than being diplomatic in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ghana confirmed four new cases of the COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday, 15th March 2020.
This confirmation raised the number from the first two recorded cases to a total of six and it is somehow causing fear and panic especially because the persons have made contacts with over a hundred people.
After the confirmation, however, the president addressed the nation and advised individuals to take practising precautionary measures seriously.
He stated that in the interest of the country, all public gatherings needed to be on hold for at least four weeks.
“I have decided in the interest of public safety and the protection of our population to review the public gathering advisories earlier announced as follows: Firstly, all public gatherings including conferences, workshops, funerals, festivals, political rallies, sporting events and religious activities, such as services in churches and mosques, have been suspended for the next four (4) weeks,” the President noted.
But the actress believes all the directives from the president are not enough to keep the country safe.
She took to Instagram to post a video in which she shared her opinion to that effect.
According to her, the president is not being transparent enough and that can only create fear and panic amongst citizens.
“We need our government to be transparent with us and I don’t want to discredit their effort but it’s important that they do more. We need information, we need our government to be transparent because when people don’t know they depend on WhatsApp messages filled with a whole lot of misinformation. Misinformation breeds conspiracies, conspiracies breed doubt and so we need you to tell us everything that is going on. Keep us informed up to date.”
“This is not the time to be secretive, this is not the time to be diplomatic. This is the time we need the brutal truth because human lives are at risk,” she added.
Describing Ghana as “a poor developing country”, she said copying the mechanisms other countries are using in curbing the pandemic in their part of the world would not be “pretty”.
She continued to say the president should not just share pieces of advice and leave it at that but rather see to it that the directive is obeyed.
“We need you to take charge as a government. It’s not enough to advise people not to be in large gatherings. It’s not enough to advise people to wash their hands. It’s not enough to tell people the safety precautions because how many people have access to clean water? How many people have access to soap? So, it is not enough to just advise people. This is the time where a government puts its foot down and implement some rules” she stated.
Watch the full video below:
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By: Hajia Lamy Gates |ghanaweekend.com