…Not To Cause Mayhem During Lockdown – GAF
By Our Reporter
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) said, the duty of its troops is to provide security for the citizenry and not to torment anyone, hence allayed the fears of residents of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region that its officers intend to cause mayhem in the area during the partial lockdown.
This was contained in a letter from GAF, demanding for a retraction and an apology for what the GAF described as “false reportage on the Ghana Armed Forces” in some media.
Different videos of soldiers in their uniforms marching and singing is making rounds on social media, whilst some of the soldiers are seen holding canes in some of the videos and there have been wild speculations that they have been deployed to handle those who will not follow the lockdown directive.
According to media reports, the military men were deployed from the Burma Camp to cause mayhem in Kumasi during the lockdown.
However, GAF in its letter categorically denied the allegation, saying it was false and without any foundation and said no troop has been or would be deployed from Burma Camp to Kumasi in connection with the lockdown.
According to the letter the videos captured troops who had completed the Accra markets disinfection programme on March 23, 2020, “five clear days before the announcement on partial lockdown was made,” and stressed that the role of the GAF is to protect citizens and not cause mayhem and urged Ghanaians to disregard the allegations and trust in the GAF.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and in conjunction with the National Security Task Force on COVID-19, has instructed that all Hotels can operate as normal and host their guests.
Restaurants, gyms and other facilities will service only the resident guests, subject to the specified enhanced hygiene protocols and social distancing and their staff will be provided special passes by National Security, which must be worn in addition to their normal IDs whilst Food Chains and Restaurants must operate only pick-up and delivery services. Their staff will be provided special passes, which must be worn in addition to their normal IDs.
This was revealed during a meeting with the press yesterday.
According to Kojo Oppong Nkrumah the directives follow the directives by the President, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on the imposition of restrictions on movement of persons in specific areas.
According to GTA, all drinking bars, night clubs, pubs etc within the specified areas must remain closed during the period and that in all situations, facilities should observe the protocol and precautionary measures on public gathering as spelt out in the imposition of restriction Act, 2020.
