The Minority side of Parliament has slammed the government for selling “false hope” in its management of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Minority maintains that Ghana is still in a precarious situation despite the state saying Ghana may have reached its peak for infections.
These comments come as Ghana’s coronavirus case count increased to 3,091.
At a press conference on Thursday morning addressed by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, the caucus accused the government of not being forthright on the figures pertaining to the spread of the pandemic in Ghana.
“Government should desist from selling false hope of a situation under control and using its management of information as a cover for this farce,” Mr. Iddrisu said.
“That insults the intelligence of Ghanaians. We are at 3,000 and you say that we should wait, all is well. All was not well when we were at 200 and 300 [cases]. How can it be well at 3000 [cases] and counting?”
Highlighting his concern with the data on the virus put out by the government, the Minority Leader noted that “on two separate occasions in April, the number of confirmed cases under routine surveillance was revised downwards without any explanation whatsoever.”
“This lack of transparency only serves to undermine public trust in government’s commitment to this fight, and that directly affects our likelihood of successfully avoiding a worsening situation,” the Minority Leader added.
Mr. Iddrisu further warned that the pandemic was “certainly above a public relations gimmick.”
“This is not a matter for persons to be egoistic or for persons to feel very high when they are addressing the nation in this matter.”
Dispute over infection peak
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has said the country has reached its peak in terms of novel coronavirus infections.
But this claim was followed by the condition that the number of cases will start declining depending on how well citizens abide by the prevention protocols.
But these assertions have been disputed by some observers.
A Biostatistics lecturer University of Ghana, Dr. Justice Aheto, noted that Ghana currently does not have the supportive and fundamental data needed to arrive at such a conclusion.
