Suspend All Festivals To Contain COVID-19 ― Nii Adjabeng Ankrah II To Traditional Rulers

Nii Adjabeng Ankrah II

Festivals, durbars among other traditional celebrations and programs must be suspended to next year in order to help contain COVID-19 in Ghana, Nii Adjabeng Ankrah II has admonished.

This follows the latest update of 1,550 confirmed cases reported by the Ghana Health Service.

Nii Adjabeng Ankrah II, the Supreme Head of Mantse Ankrah royal family in Accra made this call in order to intensify awareness of the preventive measures of containing and helping government put robust measures in combating the disease.

According to him, festivals and other traditional functions draw a lot of crowd together which would eventually widespread the COVID-19 if one is affected among the crowd.

He called on every Traditional ruler in Ghana to brace their quota in helping to contain the spread of COVID-19 since the fight against the deadly disease is a multi-sectorial approach.

The Supreme Head called on traditional rulers to avoid gatherings and educate the community to discourage family meetings.

“Traditional rulers are very important in this fight because they would help in disseminating vital information to their subjects, which would be adhered to”, he mentioned.

Doubling as the Traditional Ruler of the Otublohum Dade Ban-Naa in the Greater Accra Region, Nii Adjabeng Ankrah II said it is very important for all traditional rulers to come together and fight this deadly virus.

“Coincidentally, apart from avoiding handshake and maintaining the recommended social distance, one other key recommendation is for us to avoid touching our face (especially the mouth, nose and eyes) if we have not washed them thoroughly”, he said.

According to him, this is where a significant number of us may be at greater risk because as indicated earlier, touching one’s face, nose and eye, in particular, is usually done automatically.

Nii Adjabeng Ankrah II underscored that, there is the urgent need for all of us to make extra conscious effort not to engage in any of these automatic behaviours.

Highlighting on stigmatization, he observed that, there is an urgent need for the on-going communication to address the issue of stigma in order not to complicate the anxiety those under contact tracing and those already affected may be going through.

Commending on the President’s effort in containing the disease, he said, the President’s updates are very critical as they indicate the seriousness he attaches to the problem and the efforts being made to control it.

He pointed out that, with the passing of the Emergency Act, individuals and groups who violate any of them and put themselves and others at risk should be punished.

The Traditional ruler advised that we should take cognizance of the fact that not everyone will willing abide by laws hence the whip must be applied ruthlessly in this unusual period.

“Per the scope and nature of the problem, there is the need for a multi-sectorial approach involving not only the health professionals but also traditional rulers must be involved in fighting the disease”, he appealed.

He reiterated that each of these bodies will tackle the issue from different perspectives and together we will achieve the expected results.

On his part, as much as possible the media should restrict their interviews and radio/television discussions on the subject to individuals and groups with requisite knowledge and insight (professionals) to reduce misinformation that may cause fear and panic.