By Njoki Githinji
ACCRA, JULY 7, 2020 (CISA)-The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has decried the failure to observe of the Covid-19 protocols at recent political exercises in the country.
“The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has observed with great concern the high level of disregard for the observance of the Covid-19 protocols at political exercises at the recent New Patriotic party (NPP) parliamentary primaries, the ongoing voters registration exercise, the announcement of the running mate of the Flag-bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the party’s headquarters in Accra yesterday and some other public gatherings,” read a July 7 statement signed by the chairman of GCBC Archbishop Philip Naameh.
In the statement the prelates expressed worry over the increasing cases of Covid-19 which spells bad news for the country.
“The latest updates from the official website of the Ghana Health Service indicate that our Coronavirus cases keep increasing and as much as we acknowledge that the recovery rates are equally impressive, the increase in the positive case count is not good news for us as a country. The same can be said about the mortality rate which is also on the increase,” the statement reads.
Calling on citizens to exercise their civic right of registering to vote, the bishops called for personal responsibility for their health by adhering to the practices recommended by health experts to curb the spreads of the virus.
“We encourage all qualified Ghanaians to make the necessary effort to take part in the voters’ registration exercise. We also wish to appeal to same to take the personal responsibility to ensure that they observe all the necessary health protocols, especially those of social distancing and the wearing of face masks during the registration exercise and at all social and public gatherings,” the statement says.
In a directive issued July 6, the Electoral Commission recommended the Queue Management System at its registration centers where the first 150 applicants who arrive at the Registration centers will be provided with numbered chits. First half of this number will be served from morning to early afternoon. The second half will be asked to leave the centers and return in the afternoon when the registration process for the first batch has been completed.
