Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Archives - Page 12 of 17

Opinion

Parliament To Roll Out Plan For Vaccination Soon

Parliament on Tuesday resumed for business from a three-week shutdown over upsurge for Covid-19 cases, and would soon announce a rollout plan of vaccination for Members and Staff of the House. The House on February 10, 2021 closed down after results of a screening test for the disease by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in the House showed that 17 Members of Parliament (MPs) and 151 Staff and ancillary workers were infected with the virus. Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament adjourned the House until March 2, 2021, while the premises were disinfected and sanitized. The Speaker then asked the members and staff to comply with the strict COVID-19 protocols and regulations during the shutdown period and those not tested to get tested for the virus in two weeks. Directing the shutdown, Speaker Bagbin asked that by the end of the three weeks, the Appointments Committee of the House, which was yet to begin vetting President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s ministerial nominees should have finished and submitted their reports on the vetting to the House. Welcoming the MPs and Staff to resume full sitting, the Speaker announced that a retesting he directed just before the House re-opened, and done by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in which 550 MPs and Staff took part showed 12 testing positive, representing 2 per cent. The Speaker directed that all MPs that had not done the re-testing to do so and urged the House and Staff to adhere strictly to the COVID-19 safety protocols. He said: “Let us wear our nose masks religiously. “Let us wash our hands at the least opportunity we get while in the House “Let sanitizers be our companions, wherever we find ourselves and maintain social distancing as much as possible.” Speaker Bagbin assured the House and the nation that Parliament would not just adhere to COVID-19 protocols, but also would adopt proactive measures that would ensure the safety of the House and all who were required to engage with Parliament in furtherance of the development of the country. The Speaker sadly announced the death of Mr Robert Apodolla, a former Deputy Clerk of Parliament, on Friday, February 19, 2021, during the break, at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. The House thereafter observed a minute’s silence in memory of the late Apodolla. GNA Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

Opinion

Domelevo ends his 167-days leave today.

Auditor-General Daniel Yaw Domelevo’s 167-day forced leave ends today, Tuesday, 2 March 2021. Mr Domelevo is, therefore, expected to resume work tomorrow, Wednesday, 3 March 2021. There were unconfirmed rumours in early 2021 that Mr Domelevo was set to resume work in January. However, in a social media post, the Auditor-General indicated that his 167-day leave would end on 2 March 2021. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo directed Mr Domelevo to take his accumulated annual leave of 123 working days effective Wednesday, 1 July 2020 but later increased it to 167 following a protest letter from the A-G. A statement released by the office of the President and signed by the Director of Communications, Mr Eugene Arhin, on Monday, 29 June 2020, said: “The President’s decision to direct Mr Domelevo to take his accumulated annual leave is based on Sections 20(1) and Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), which apply to all workers including public office holders such as the Auditor-General.” Mr Domelevo was said to have taken only nine days of his annual leave. But reacting to the directive from the president in a letter addressed to Nana Asante Bediatuo, the Secretary to the President, Mr Domelevo said: “My knowledge of recent labour and practice in the country is that no worker is deemed to have accumulated any leave on account of their having failed, omitted, neglected or even refused to enjoy their rights to annual leave, which the law guarantees for their benefit, not the employer.” He stated that to the best of his knowledge, therefore, “wherein any given year a worker fails, omits, neglects or even refuses to take their annual leave such leave is deemed forfeited with no corresponding obligation on the part of the employer to enforce the workers right to take their leave by assuming, deeming or declaring the forfeited leave accumulated.” “I am also informed that by law, every person is entitled in some in very limited circumstances, to wave what the law has ordained for their benefit, in this case, a worker’s leave. Be that as it may, the directive that I proceed on leave and hand ‘over all matters relating to the office to Mr Johnson Akuamoah’ with all due respect has serious implications for the institutional independence of the office of the auditor general,” the letter said. A petition presented to the office of the President, signed by some 1,000 Ghanaians living abroad and led by Lolan Sagoe-Moses and Korieh Duodu, with regard to Mr Domelevo’s leave directive, asked that the directive be reversed, noting that it would make him incapable of acting as Auditor-General. The petition stated: “We question how the public is expected to consider such a decision as made in good faith, in circumstances where the Auditor-General is essentially being asked to make himself well-rested and refreshed for the commencement of his retirement. Mr Domelevo’s absence, during this 167-day period, would mean he will not be able to actively execute his Constitutionally-prescribed role as protector of the public purse during the crucial 6 month period before the general election, a period.” However, responding to the petition from the Ghanaians abroad, Secretary to the President, Nana Asante Bediatuo indicated that President Akufo-Addo’s stance on the leave directive had not changed. Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

Politics

I had always thought Akufo-Addo was a ‘serious radical’ man until I got closer – Ken Agyapong

Hon Kennedy Agyapong has said that prior to having a very personal relationship with the President of Ghana, he had always thought the President was a radical. According to him, his perception of the President of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo changed entirely during one of his visits to his house when he was then an opposition leader. Kennedy who made this known in an interview which was monitored by MyNewsGh.com said the President asked what it will take to prevent witch-hunting former Appointees like it has been the case over the years. He said he was then suffering as a businessman because the NDC was not making life better for him so he told Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that it was imperative that when the NPP comes they also stifle the growth of NDC businesses. But the President outlined why it’s unnecessary. Kennedy Agyapong indicated that he is not shocked that taking over power, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has become very gentle since he took over power to the shock of every Ghanaian who had the perception that he was going to be radical. He said he won’t be shocked that the country will not put any former government appointee behind bars but will find a way of making the individual pay the state. MynewsGh Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

Politics

NDC, NPP embraced peace ahead of 2020 election petition verdict – Government

Government says it has reached an agreement with the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to do everything possible to maintain the stability enjoyed in the country ahead of the pronouncement of the verdict in the ongoing 2020 election petition hearing. According to the President’s representative at the Information Ministry, this was one of the resolutions reached at a high-powered delegation from both sides at a meeting on February 25, 2021. The consultative meeting of 30 participants including top security hierarchy and chaired by Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare was hosted by the National Security Ministry. Former President John Mahama is currently in court seeking to annul the results of the December 7 election over irregularities which he believes saw Nana Akufo-Addo emerge President. After weeks of arguments at the Supreme Court by lawyers for the petitioner and respondents, the apex court is set to deliver judgment on Thursday, March 4, 2021. The statement signed by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah indicated that both parties agreed to trigger measures to prevent their party faithful from fueling chaos after the Supreme Court declaration. “Regarding the on-going election petition, all parties committed to the need to preserve the peace in the aftermath of the verdict by urging their supporters to exercise restraint and desist from any provocative acts that could undermine law and order.” The meeting was generally geared towards reviewing “the security arrangements put in place for the conduct of the elections and expressed divergent concerns about the events that characterized the collation and declaration of the results.” While calling for closure to election-related violence that characterised the 2020 general election through investigation and sanctioning of perpetrators, the gathering further called on the Police Service to “improve upon the policing of election materials in future elections.” “The parties called for thorough investigations into the incidents that marred the peaceful conduct and declaration of the results notably in Odododiodoo, Savlegu, Ablekuma Central, Sefwi Wiawso, and Techiman South constituencies among others.” The March 1 statement further reiterated the “need to continue the political and security dialogue in the best interest of the country.” Also present at the meeting were; the Presidential Advisor on Security, Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Okyere (Rtd), Albert Kan-Dapaah, the President’s Representative at the Ministry of National Security, Ambrose Dery, the President’s Representative at the Ministry of Interior, Freddie Blay and John Boadu, NPP Chairman and General Secretary respectively. The NDC was also represented by Kofi Totobi-Quakyi, former Minister for National Security, Lt Col Larry Gbevlo-Lartey (Rtd), Former National Security Coordinator and Director for Operations, Capt (GN) Baffour Assasie-Gyimah, former Deputy National Security Advisor and Mr. Kofi Attoh, National Vice Chairman. Also, in attendance were the IGP James Oppong-Buanuh and the CDS Rear Admiral Seth Amoama. Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

Politics

Appointments Committee approves 22 ministers, eight pending

Twenty-two ministerial nominees of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo have been unanimously approved by the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Asaase Radio’s parliamentary sources have confirmed. Asaase Radio can also reveal that the committee wants clarification on five others while three may require majority decision via voting on the floor of Parliament. Three on hold According to Asaase Radio’s sources in Parliament and at the Office of the President, the Ministers-designate for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and Fisheries, Hawa Koomson, could not get the approval of all 26 members of the Appointments Committee and must secure approval through voting on the floor of Parliament. The sources say, members of the minority side of the Appointments Committee accused Oppong Nkrumah, as being the one who called for a member of the legal team of the petitioner in the ongoing Election 2020 petition, Dr. Dominic Ayine, to be cited for contempt, after Ayine told the media on 16 February 2021, that the Supreme Court has a predetermined agenda to rule in favour of President Akufo-Addo. In the case of the Minister for Food and Agriculture-designate, Kwaku Owusu Afriyie Akoto, members of the Minority side of the Appointments Committee accused him of being arrogant when he appeared before the committee and on that basis, they will not approve of his nomination. On Koomson, the Minority side of the Appointments Committee, are of the opinion that she is not fit for the job. Clarifications on five Information available to Asaase News further suggests that the Minority side of the Appointments Committee will formally communicate to the appropriate authorities to indicate the clarifications they need with regard to the remaining five nominations of President Akufo-Addo. It is believed that on the Roads and Highways portfolio, the clarification they may be seeking has to do with the Tema road contract, before they approve the nominee, Kwesi Amoako-Atta. The approval of the Minister-designate for Communications and Digitization, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, is also on hold because the Minority side says they require some clarification on the closure of some radio stations in the country. The Health Minister-designate, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu‘s appointment, according to our source is on hold because the Minority side of the Appointments Committee say he did not satisfy them with his answers on questions regarding the engagement of Frontier to offer COVID-19 testing services at the airport some time in September 2020. The Agyapa Gold Royalties deal and the answers given by the Minister for Justice and Attorney General-designate, Godfred Yeboah Dame, to questions posed by some members of the Appointments Committee ought to be clarified and to that end, the Attorney General’s nomination is also on hold, one source disclosed. John Peter Amewu, the former Minister for Energy who supervised the PDS deal and has been nominated by the president to serve as the Minister for Railways Development in his second administration, has his approval also on hold. The minority side of the Appointments Committee say they require some clarification on some answers the minister-designate provided during his vetting on the PDS deal. Asaase Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

Opinion

Why nurses who administered vaccine to Nana Addo, others didn’t wear gloves

Ghana President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday, March 1, 2021, became the first person in the country to take the much-awaited coronavirus vaccine that arrived sometime last week. The President’s jab which was telecast on national television was to among other things done to allay fears of a section of the public regarding the effects of the vaccine. It was also to demonstrate the confidence the president had in the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. While Nana Addo and the First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo have been commended for openly taking his vaccine jab, concerns have been raised as to why the nurses who administered the jab on the president and his wife were not wearing surgical gloves, with some arguing that it is dangerous. But it has emerged per GhanaWeb checks that the decision by the nurses not to wear gloves while giving the jabs is standard practice. According to the Washington state department of health, gloves are not recommended to be worn when administering the Covid-19 vaccination, unless the person administering the vaccination has open sores on their hands or is likely to come into contact with a patient’s body fluids. “Gloves are not recommended for most vaccination administration and are not required for the Covid-19 vaccine unless the person administering the vaccine is likely to come into contact with potentially infectious body fluids or has open lesions on their hands,” it said. “If used improperly, gloves can increase the likelihood of spreading germs.” The General Best Practice Guidelines for Immunization set out by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the same thing: “Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations do not require gloves to be worn when administering vaccinations unless persons administering vaccinations have open lesions on their hands or are likely to come into contact with a patients body fluids”. Ghana acquired 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India on Wednesday, February 24, becoming the first African country to do so. The roll-out of the vaccination will be conducted in forty-three (43) districts, which are the epicentres of the pandemic in the country. They are twenty-five (25) in Greater Accra, sixteen (16) in Ashanti, and two (2) in the Central Region. Designated persons to take the vaccine will begin the exercise on Tuesday, March 2. The roll-out of the vaccine is expected to break the transmission of the virus which has seen a surge in Ghana over the last couple of weeks. Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

Entertainment

I will marry Nana Addo if he accepts LGBTQ+ in Ghana – Coconut seller (VIDEO)

Correspondence from Eastern Region: A coconut seller who plies his trade in Koforidua, the Eastern regional capital, has sworn that if the government, led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, allows homosexuality to openly operate in Ghana, he would prefer to marry the President. The young coconut seller held the view that homosexuality is not a thing that the President and his government should ever condone and consider accepting in the country. “If they (the government) accept it, my name is Akwasi Oppong, I will go and marry Nana Addo. If Nana Addo accepts gayism here, I will go and put a ring on him (marry him),” he said. According to the coconut seller, who spoke to Ghanaweb in Koforidua, homosexuals are unsound people who need to be given 1000 lashes each if they are found, saying, “They should be put on a table and given 1000 lashes each. They are not correct.” Akwasi Oppong’s counterpart, also a coconut seller, Kwabena Augustine, did not hold a different view. He expressed his abhorrence to the issue of homosexuality, indicating that, “A man with his hard buttocks, then you, a man, will say you will marry him. When did you see a male cat having sex with another male cat? That thing should not be allowed here,” he said. Ghanaweb interviewed some more residents on their views on the issue of legalising homosexuality in Ghana but they all rejected such a call describing it as an abomination for the country. “We should not condone that thing (homosexuality) here at all. Growing up I never heard my mum telling us two men have mated and delivered a child before. Left with me, the government should reject this thing. Any person caught engaging in this should be arrested and jailed. Personally, I hate it. “God created sweet women for us. How do you feel when you see a beautiful lady? Why should a man be attracted to another man? We prefer living in poverty than allowing homosexuality here for riches,” a male trader expressed. Another resident, Afia Boadiwaa, described homosexuality to be evil and should not be entertained in Ghana. She stated that if the President had gone for a loan from the pro-LGBTQ+ group on the nation’s behalf, he should return it to them. A footwear dealer also told Ghanaweb that “It is not right for us to allow them to live in Ghana. Because gayism is occultism. It is needless to allow it to be in Ghana. If we allow it, it is corruption we are bringing into Ghana. We don’t like it that way.” When asked if his stance was not a violation of human rights against LGBTQ+, he said, “We won’t violate anybody’s right. God said we should procreate like the sea sand. Why then should we allow a man to marry a man? How will they procreate?” Kofi Manu is also a resident of Koforidua who as well shared that Ghana should not agree to homosexuality. “If Nana Addo Dankwa, our own President, we vote for him, agrees to it then it’s bad. “Past Presidents did not accept this in Ghana. We voted for you to come so we will have jobs to do. But to bring homosexuality is destruction. If our children learn this thing, it is death that will befall us. It’s bad. We won’t accept. So the government should not accept it here,” he said. To Abena Serwaa, a resident of Koforidua who sells second hand clothing, curse will befall Ghana if it legalises homosexuality citing Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible as an example. She prefers that Ghanaians would die of hunger than the government getting money from pro-LGBTQ+ nations to promote homosexuality in Ghana. “I appeal to Akufo-Addo to pray well over this and allow the Holy Spirit to work in him. This is a demonic power that is rising and so if he (the president) allows the Holy Spirit work in him, he will overcome it,” Akua Serwaa said. Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

Opinion

I want to reiterate my determination that we should manufacture vaccines here in Ghana–Prez Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reiterated his determination for a vaccine to be manufacture in Ghana In his 24th COVID-19 address on Sunday, 28 February 2021, the President said: “I want to reiterate my determination that we should manufacture vaccines here in Ghana”. “To this end, a Committee has been established under the Chairmanship of the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, the world-renowned scientist, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, which is formulating a concrete plan of action towards vaccine development and manufacturing”. President further pointed, that the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) is also in the process of certifying more vaccines for use. Read the President’s full statement below: Address To The Nation By The President Of The Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, On Updates To Ghana’s Enhanced Response To The Coronavirus Pandemic, On Sunday, 28th February 2021. Fellow Ghanaians, Good evening, and thank you for welcoming me into your homes once again. You are doing so on one of the sacred days of our nation, 28th February, when the 1948 Christiansborg Crossroads shooting occurred seventy-three (73) years ago, which led to the martyrdoms of Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe, and Private Odartey Lamptey, martyrdoms that ignited the nationalist movement, and led us to the freedom we enjoy today. Let us observe a moment’s silence in honour of their memory, and the memory of all the faithful departed patriots who helped create our nation. May their souls rest in perfect peace. Fellow Ghanaians, since I last spoke to you, a month ago, a significant development in our fight against COVID-19 has taken place in our country. In the course of this week, Wednesday, 24th February, to be precise, we took another concrete step in our quest to rid our nation of COVID-19, with the arrival in the country of six hundred thousand (600,000) doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the first consignment of many more to come. I indicated in Update No. 23 that the earliest vaccine would be in the country by March. However, by dint of hard work and sheer determination, the government was able to secure the first batch of vaccine doses in February, a month ahead of schedule. We are the first country in the world to be recipients of vaccines from the COVAX Facility, and I want to express my appreciation to members of the COVID-19 Taskforce, which I chair, and to officials of the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service for this commendable feat. The vaccine deployment plan we submitted to WHO, which unlocked this consignment, was well-received. They have done a yeoman’s job, and our nation is indebted to them. We are grateful, also, naturally, to the contributors and managers of the COVAX Facility. The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of two (2) vaccines that have, so far, been approved and declared as safe-for-use by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA). With the process of certification currently ongoing for the other vaccines, the range of vaccines available to us will increase. This will facilitate our ability to reach our target of vaccinating twenty million Ghanaians by the end of this year. Through the National Vaccine Deployment Plan, our population has been segmented into four groups, and this will determine which section of the population gets vaccinated at a particular time. Group 1 is categorised as “persons most at risk and frontline State officials”. It includes healthcare workers, frontline security personnel, persons with underlying medical conditions, persons sixty (60) years and above, and frontline members of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. Group 2 is made up of other essential service providers and the rest of the security agencies. It includes water and electricity supply services, teachers and students, supply and distribution of fuels, farmers and food value chain, telecommunications services, air traffic and civil aviation control services, meteorological services, air transport services, waste management services, media, public and private commercial transport services, the Police Service, Armed Forces, Prisons Service, Immigration Service, National Fire Service, CEPS Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, and other members of the Executive, Judiciary, and Legislature. Group 3 consists of the rest of the general public that is all persons over eighteen (18) years, except for pregnant women. The final group, that is Group 4, will include pregnant mothers and persons under the age of eighteen (18), and they will be vaccinated when an appropriate vaccine, hopefully, is found, or when enough safety data on the present vaccines is available. Special arrangements will be made for persons with disabilities who fall within these groups. So, from Tuesday, 2nd March, to Monday, 15th March 2021, the Ghana Health Service will begin deployment of the six hundred thousand (600,000) AstraZeneca vaccines, with persons in Groups 1 and 2 being the target of this first vaccination campaign. It will be conducted in forty-three (43) districts, which are the epicentres of the pandemic in the country. They are twenty-five (25) in Greater Accra, sixteen (16) in Ashanti, and two (2) in the Central Region. The Ghana Health Service, as from tomorrow, will give precise details. Whilst we are, initially, concentrating on the forty-three (43) epicentre-districts, preparations are being made for the vaccination of twenty million Ghanaians through the deployment of some twelve thousand and seventy-one (12,471) vaccinators, thirty-seven thousand, four hundred and thirteen (37,413) volunteers, and two thousand, and seventy-nine (2,079) supervisors for the entire vaccination campaign. Fellow Ghanaians, I know there are still some who continue to express doubts about the vaccine, others have expressed reservations about its efficacy, with some taking sides with conspiracy theorists who believe the vaccine has been created to wipe out the African race. This is far from the truth. Our domestic regulatory agency, FDA, one of the most reputable in Africa and in the world, has certified the safe use of the vaccine. It will not do so if it had any reservations about the safety of the vaccine, and I have gone on record as saying that no vaccine will be deployed in the

Politics

Taking the vaccine will not alter your DNA—Prez Akufo Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has told Ghanaians that taking the vaccine will not alter your DNA. In his 24th COVID-19 address on Sunday, 28 February 2021, he said “Taking the vaccine will not alter your DNA, it will not embed a tracking device in your body, neither will it cause infertility in women or in men”. Read the President’s full statement below: Address To The Nation By The President Of The Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, On Updates To Ghana’s Enhanced Response To The Coronavirus Pandemic, On Sunday, 28th February 2021. Fellow Ghanaians, Good evening, and thank you for welcoming me into your homes once again. You are doing so on one of the sacred days of our nation, 28th February, when the 1948 Christiansborg Crossroads shooting occurred seventy-three (73) years ago, which led to the martyrdoms of Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe, and Private Odartey Lamptey, martyrdoms that ignited the nationalist movement, and led us to the freedom we enjoy today. Let us observe a moment’s silence in honour of their memory, and the memory of all the faithful departed patriots who helped create our nation. May their souls rest in perfect peace. Fellow Ghanaians, since I last spoke to you, a month ago, a significant development in our fight against COVID-19 has taken place in our country. In the course of this week, Wednesday, 24th February, to be precise, we took another concrete step in our quest to rid our nation of COVID-19, with the arrival in the country of six hundred thousand (600,000) doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the first consignment of many more to come. I indicated in Update No. 23 that the earliest vaccine would be in the country by March. However, by dint of hard work and sheer determination, the government was able to secure the first batch of vaccine doses in February, a month ahead of schedule. We are the first country in the world to be recipients of vaccines from the COVAX Facility, and I want to express my appreciation to members of the COVID-19 Taskforce, which I chair, and to officials of the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service for this commendable feat. The vaccine deployment plan we submitted to WHO, which unlocked this consignment, was well-received. They have done a yeoman’s job, and our nation is indebted to them. We are grateful, also, naturally, to the contributors and managers of the COVAX Facility. The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of two (2) vaccines that have, so far, been approved and declared as safe-for-use by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA). With the process of certification currently ongoing for the other vaccines, the range of vaccines available to us will increase. This will facilitate our ability to reach our target of vaccinating twenty million Ghanaians by the end of this year. Through the National Vaccine Deployment Plan, our population has been segmented into four groups, and this will determine which section of the population gets vaccinated at a particular time. Group 1 is categorised as “persons most at risk and frontline State officials”. It includes healthcare workers, frontline security personnel, persons with underlying medical conditions, persons sixty (60) years and above, and frontline members of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. Group 2 is made up of other essential service providers and the rest of the security agencies. It includes water and electricity supply services, teachers and students, supply and distribution of fuels, farmers and food value chain, telecommunications services, air traffic and civil aviation control services, meteorological services, air transport services, waste management services, media, public and private commercial transport services, the Police Service, Armed Forces, Prisons Service, Immigration Service, National Fire Service, CEPS Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, and other members of the Executive, Judiciary, and Legislature. Group 3 consists of the rest of the general public that is all persons over eighteen (18) years, except for pregnant women. The final group, that is Group 4, will include pregnant mothers and persons under the age of eighteen (18), and they will be vaccinated when an appropriate vaccine, hopefully, is found, or when enough safety data on the present vaccines is available. Special arrangements will be made for persons with disabilities who fall within these groups. So, from Tuesday, 2nd March, to Monday, 15th March 2021, the Ghana Health Service will begin deployment of the six hundred thousand (600,000) AstraZeneca vaccines, with persons in Groups 1 and 2 being the target of this first vaccination campaign. It will be conducted in forty-three (43) districts, which are the epicentres of the pandemic in the country. They are twenty-five (25) in Greater Accra, sixteen (16) in Ashanti, and two (2) in the Central Region. The Ghana Health Service, as from tomorrow, will give precise details. Whilst we are, initially, concentrating on the forty-three (43) epicentre-districts, preparations are being made for the vaccination of twenty million Ghanaians through the deployment of some twelve thousand and seventy-one (12,471) vaccinators, thirty-seven thousand, four hundred and thirteen (37,413) volunteers, and two thousand, and seventy-nine (2,079) supervisors for the entire vaccination campaign. Fellow Ghanaians, I know there are still some who continue to express doubts about the vaccine, others have expressed reservations about its efficacy, with some taking sides with conspiracy theorists who believe the vaccine has been created to wipe out the African race. This is far from the truth. Our domestic regulatory agency, FDA, one of the most reputable in Africa and in the world, has certified the safe use of the vaccine. It will not do so if it had any reservations about the safety of the vaccine, and I have gone on record as saying that no vaccine will be deployed in the country for use without the express certification of the FDA. Taking the vaccine will not alter your DNA, it will not embed a tracking device in your body, neither will it cause infertility in women or in men. As your President, I want to assure you that the

Opinion

GHS will begin deployment of the six hundred thousand (600,000) AstraZeneca vaccines—Prez Akufo Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said, from Tuesday, 2nd March, to Monday, 15th March 2021, the Ghana Health Service will begin deployment of the six hundred thousand (600,000) AstraZeneca vaccines, with persons in Groups 1 and 2 being the target of this first vaccination campaign. In his 24th COVID-19 address on Sunday, 28 February 2021, the President said: “Ghana Health Service will begin deployment of the six hundred thousand (600,000) AstraZeneca vaccines, with persons in Groups 1 and 2 being the target of this first vaccination campaign”. Read the President’s full statement below: Address To The Nation By The President Of The Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, On Updates To Ghana’s Enhanced Response To The Coronavirus Pandemic, On Sunday, 28th February 2021. Fellow Ghanaians, Good evening, and thank you for welcoming me into your homes once again. You are doing so on one of the sacred days of our nation, 28th February, when the 1948 Christiansborg Crossroads shooting occurred seventy-three (73) years ago, which led to the martyrdoms of Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe, and Private Odartey Lamptey, martyrdoms that ignited the nationalist movement, and led us to the freedom we enjoy today. Let us observe a moment’s silence in honour of their memory, and the memory of all the faithful departed patriots who helped create our nation. May their souls rest in perfect peace. Fellow Ghanaians, since I last spoke to you, a month ago, a significant development in our fight against COVID-19 has taken place in our country. In the course of this week, Wednesday, 24th February, to be precise, we took another concrete step in our quest to rid our nation of COVID-19, with the arrival in the country of six hundred thousand (600,000) doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the first consignment of many more to come. I indicated in Update No. 23 that the earliest vaccine would be in the country by March. However, by dint of hard work and sheer determination, the government was able to secure the first batch of vaccine doses in February, a month ahead of schedule. We are the first country in the world to be recipients of vaccines from the COVAX Facility, and I want to express my appreciation to members of the COVID-19 Taskforce, which I chair, and to officials of the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service for this commendable feat. The vaccine deployment plan we submitted to WHO, which unlocked this consignment, was well-received. They have done a yeoman’s job, and our nation is indebted to them. We are grateful, also, naturally, to the contributors and managers of the COVAX Facility. The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of two (2) vaccines that have, so far, been approved and declared as safe-for-use by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA). With the process of certification currently ongoing for the other vaccines, the range of vaccines available to us will increase. This will facilitate our ability to reach our target of vaccinating twenty million Ghanaians by the end of this year. Through the National Vaccine Deployment Plan, our population has been segmented into four groups, and this will determine which section of the population gets vaccinated at a particular time. Group 1 is categorised as “persons most at risk and frontline State officials”. It includes healthcare workers, frontline security personnel, persons with underlying medical conditions, persons sixty (60) years and above, and frontline members of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. Group 2 is made up of other essential service providers and the rest of the security agencies. It includes water and electricity supply services, teachers and students, supply and distribution of fuels, farmers and food value chain, telecommunications services, air traffic and civil aviation control services, meteorological services, air transport services, waste management services, media, public and private commercial transport services, the Police Service, Armed Forces, Prisons Service, Immigration Service, National Fire Service, CEPS Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, and other members of the Executive, Judiciary, and Legislature. Group 3 consists of the rest of the general public that is all persons over eighteen (18) years, except for pregnant women. The final group, that is Group 4, will include pregnant mothers and persons under the age of eighteen (18), and they will be vaccinated when an appropriate vaccine, hopefully, is found, or when enough safety data on the present vaccines is available. Special arrangements will be made for persons with disabilities who fall within these groups. So, from Tuesday, 2nd March, to Monday, 15th March 2021, the Ghana Health Service will begin deployment of the six hundred thousand (600,000) AstraZeneca vaccines, with persons in Groups 1 and 2 being the target of this first vaccination campaign. It will be conducted in forty-three (43) districts, which are the epicentres of the pandemic in the country. They are twenty-five (25) in Greater Accra, sixteen (16) in Ashanti, and two (2) in the Central Region. The Ghana Health Service, as from tomorrow, will give precise details. Whilst we are, initially, concentrating on the forty-three (43) epicentre-districts, preparations are being made for the vaccination of twenty million Ghanaians through the deployment of some twelve thousand and seventy-one (12,471) vaccinators, thirty-seven thousand, four hundred and thirteen (37,413) volunteers, and two thousand, and seventy-nine (2,079) supervisors for the entire vaccination campaign. Fellow Ghanaians, I know there are still some who continue to express doubts about the vaccine, others have expressed reservations about its efficacy, with some taking sides with conspiracy theorists who believe the vaccine has been created to wipe out the African race. This is far from the truth. Our domestic regulatory agency, FDA, one of the most reputable in Africa and in the world, has certified the safe use of the vaccine. It will not do so if it had any reservations about the safety of the vaccine, and I have gone on record as saying that no vaccine will be deployed in the country for use without the express certification of the FDA. Taking the vaccine will not alter your

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