President Akufo-Addo has announced the creation of a COVID-19 Fund with his three-months salary as seed money, to support the well-being of those who will be worst-hit by the novel Coronavirus pandemic.
The President made this known when he announced a partial lock-down of the country on Friday night, March 27, to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
According to him, the Fund, which will be manged by an independent board of trustees and headed by former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, is to receive public contributions to help these people.
“I am announcing tonight the establishment of a COVID-19 Fund, to be managed by an independent board of trustees, and chaired by former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, to receive contributions and donations from the public to assist in the welfare of the needy and the vulnerable. I have directed the Controller and Accountant General to pay my next three months’ salary, i.e. April, May and June, into this Fund,” he said.
The partial lock-down of parts of Greater Accra and Kumasi, will take effect at 1:00am on Monday, March 30, 2020, and will last for two weeks.
The decision, according to the President, is to help curb the spread of COVID-19 which has led to four deaths in Ghana and infected 137 people.
“…effective 1:00 am on Monday, 30th March, some forty-eight hours from now, I have imposed, pursuant to the powers granted the President of the Republic, under the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (Act 1012), restrictions on movement of persons in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA, which includes Awutu Senya East), and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area and contiguous districts, for a period of two (2) weeks, subject to review. It will give us the opportunity to try to halt the spread of the virus, and scale-up effectively contact tracing of persons who have come into contact with infected persons, test them for the virus, and, if necessary, quarantine and isolate them for treatment, should they prove to have the virus,” he added.
The global number of COVID-19 cases is almost 600,000 with over 27,000 deaths.
COVID-19: Akufo-Addo announces GH1bn stimulus package for businesses
As part of measures to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana to sustain businesses, President Akufo-Addo also announced that all households and small to medium scale enterprises are to benefit from a stimulus package of one billion Ghana cedis.
According to him, this is part of the creation of a Coronavirus Alleviation Program to revive the country’s affected industries and address the distraction in economic activities caused by the pandemic.
