Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has criticized former President John Dramani Mahama for suggesting that there may be a political underpinning behind President Akufo-Addo’s decisions in the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Ofoase-Ayirebi MP, if there is anyone who wants to play politics with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the former President and his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
In a digital conversation with Ghanaians on Thursday, April 23, 2020, the former President said; “while it is the prerogative of the President to take the decisions that ensure our safety and protection, it is my hope that his decisions are guided by genuine concern for the health and safety of the people of Ghana and are also guided by science, not any political or parochial considerations.”
Reacting to this, the Information Minister emphasized that all of government’s decisions in the COVID-19 pandemic response such as the imposition of the ban on public gatherings to the imposition of a lockdown; have all been based on science and data and not politics.
“Since we began this work, we have been making decisions based on science and data, not politics. I first gave an example that when the NDC started making politics with what was happening, that if we do not evacuate our people from China it meant the President was wicked and wasn’t caring if we had played by the politics, we would have relied on our political instincts and not science and brought them back but because we were being led by science and data, we didn’t do it.”
