The Majority Speaker of Ghana’s parliament, Hon. Kyei Mensah Bonsu has asserted that the decision made by the president of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to close borders and quarantine travelers during the initial stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in Ghana was a divine intervention.

He disclosed that the decision taken was a revelation and that has sustained Ghana from recording fatal cases until now amidst the blame by nationals and opposition parties to intervene in the situation of Ghanaian students in China by bringing them home.

“The president’s decision was extremely good and a divine intervention. Government has done well compared to what is happening in other African countries. The decision of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) towards Ghanaians was like government didn’t care about the students in Wuhan (China).

“Government took a decision to let the ambassador to monitor affairs. Just analyse what is happening in South Africa and Senegal. They took a decision to fly their citizens to the country hence the outcome,” he said.

Ghana’s air, sea and land borders were closed on Sunday, March 22, 2020 following an order by President Akufo-Addo as part of efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country and was subsequently extended by two weeks on April 4, 2020.

79 travelers tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving nationals were quarantined when the borders were shut and according to the Member of Parliament for Suame Constituency, the government received lot of criticism on the decision on why the president should impose mandatory isolation measures on travelers.

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“Even some of the travelers then at their quarantined base recorded videos questioning government’s decision but when the tests were later revealed, they understood the meaning of our actions,” he said on Kwame Tanko’s Angel in the Morning on Kumasi based Angel FM on Monday, April 27, 2020.

Hon. Kyei Mensa Bonsu emphasized that the NDC had earlier called on government to declare a State of Emergency after rules were made to improve restriction.

“It looks like people do not understand what it means to declare State of Emergency. The right to life, respect for human dignity, equality from freedom and discrimination and many other rights of the citizen would count no more when this happens. There will be an intrusion into privacy and Ghana as a nation didn’t need that in such a time.

“The contact tracing, testing and treatment was one of the finest decisions and it really helped a lot in our situation,” he added.

He applauded VIP buses and a few supermarkets in the country for observing the social distancing and wearing of masks directive.

An advice was conveyed to traders to treat the orders of the President on the preventive measures of COVID-19 seriously to prevent the disease from escalating.