Let’s enact law for mandatory wearing of mask- Rt Rev. Anyani Boadum
Rt Rev. Dr Nana Anyani Boadum, the Founder and Leader of Jesus Generational Ministries has appealed to the President of the republic to initiate an appropriate and enforceable law to make wearing of face mask, mandatory for all citizens.
He said the recent spike in COVID-19 infection rates among Ghanaians, has made his appeal to the President an urgent one.
“I am not saying soldiers and the Police must enforce the law by beating up people.”
Rt Rev. Dr Anyani Boadum, who was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Ghanaian Times on Thursday, said the level of indiscipline and indiscretion among some Ghanaian is very high.
He said with only two, out of every 10 Ghanaians wearing the face mask, “how can we as a nation flattened the COVID 19 cure before expecting it to decline?”
The man of God said the Ghana Health Service told Ghanaians recently that, the COVID-19 cases had reached its peak, and would only plateaued before declining.
He said by jurisprudence, a law must be well defined with the corresponding penalties, to make it very meaningful.
“If the Legislative Instrument (LI) which mandated the President to lock down churches, close our borders and the airports does not cover wearing of face masks, then I think we need a law in that regard,” he said.
He said even though he did not expect people who violated the law on wearing of face masks to go to prison, offenders could be made to do community services, maybe for two weeks under full media coverage.
Rt Rev. Dr Anyani Boadum further suggested that, offenders could also be made to work near COVID 19 isolation centres, to see for themselves that, the disease was real and killing people.
“My argument for non-custodial sentence is that Ghana may not even have the resources to monitor and enforce the law, considering the number of cases we have to deal with,” he said.
Rt Rev. Anyani Boadum said instead of the President appealing to the moral suations of the people to wear the face masks, he should back the enforcement with an LI under his restrictive powers.
He said the way some Ghanaians got crowded in compound houses, social distancing had become almost impossible hence wearing of face masks.
He said without adhering to the safety protocols, asymptomatic people could infect a lot of people, as happened in Tema, when an individual infected over 500 people at a go.
The man of God has therefore suggested COVID-19 volunteers, who should be trained to embark on a sentinel surveillance, where random samplings are done among selected groups like drivers, chop bar keepers, restaurant operators and their staff.
He said transport organisations should be able to reject passengers who did not wear face masks, from boarding their vehicles, to contain COVID-19.
By Francis Xah
