General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia wants former Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah to face prosecution for flouting COVID-19 protocols.
Mr. Nketia says the resignation of the Member of Parliament for Tema West is not punitive enough for the harm he allegedly caused.
Carlos Ahenkorah resigned from his deputy ministerial position after admitting breaching COVID-19 protocols by visiting a registration centre despite being aware that he has tested positive for the virus.
In a Citi News interview during his tour of Voter Registration Exercise in the Volta Region, Johnson Asiedu Nketia said the prosecution of the former Deputy Minister is the only way to show the government’s commitment to evenhandedly deal with offenders of the Coronavirus safety rules.
“There are positive cases identified at the Presidency, but nothing is happening. There have been positive cases identified in the house of Parliament, but Parliament is still sitting. Even when one case was identified in a factory, they close the factory down. You go to the hospitals, and when one case is identified, they close the ward down. Now in the House of Parliament where all these laws are made, they identified more than 13 cases in Parliament, and they are still sitting because they have to wait to pass laws to make Nana Akufo-Addo continue as President.”
“And with Ministers having tested positive, some of them are going round registration centres spreading COVID-19 and they are not being prosecuted. So we are calling for the prosection of Carlos Ahenkorah. Resignation is not part of our laws for the COVID-19 protocols. If they have taken that administrative step, we agree but we are waiting to see that they are prosecuted the same way as the ordinary men on the street. They must prosecute Carlos Ahenkorah,” he stressed.
Carlos’ justification
On Eyewitness News on Thursday, Mr. Ahenkorah defended his decision for stepping out and monitoring the ongoing voter registration exercise despite testing positive for COVID-19.
He admitted that his doctor had told him to self-isolate but he had to visit a registration centre to resolve some issues that had come up.
Following his remarks, many Ghanaians took to social media to criticize the legislator for moving into a public place when he was supposed to isolate himself due to his COVID-19 status.
Some of his critics urged the president to sack him, while others said he must resign for his conduct.
Withdraw his candidature
Already, Pressure group, OccupyGhana has also demanded the prosecution of the legislator for violating the COVID-19 protocols.
The pressure group further called on the governing New Patriotic Party to withdraw the candidacy of Carlos Ahenkorah as its parliamentary candidate for the 2020 polls in the Tema West constituency.
The group described Ahenkorah’s action as ‘despicable, outrageous and selfish’.
