President Akufo Addo has presented large quantities of hygiene and handwashing items to religious bodies in Accra.
The items include 9,900 sets of Veronica buckets with metal stands and waste water collection bowls, 9,900 nose masks, 19,800 bottles of liquid soap, 19,800 bottles of hand sanitiser and nine 1,900 paper tissues.
The Christian community had 7,400 sets of the items, the beneficiary groups being the Christian Council of Ghana, the Ghana Pentecostal Churches Council, the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, the Independent Churches Association of Ghana, the National Clergy Association of Ghana, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, the National Association of Charismatic Churches Council and the United Prayer Network.
The Muslim group received two thousand 500 sets of each product to be shared among the Office of the National Chief Imam, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, the Shia Muslim Community, the Ghana Muslim Mission and the Tijaniyya Muslim Council.
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, who made the presentation on behalf of the President, said fifty thousand sets of the items would be sent to various districts to be distributed to churches, mosques and palaces.
Speaking at separate events, Hajia Mahama explained that the items were a token of appreciation from President Akufo-Addo in recognition of the prayers, support and understanding exhibited by the religious groups since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
She said the items would also help worshippers in the washing of their hands to prevent the spread of the disease when they start their services, in consonance with the directives by the President.
Hajia Mahama said prior to the relaxation of the directive on social gathering, the government had met with the leadership of the religious groups, who made inputs into the measures spelt out in his 10th address to the nation on the COVID-19.
The Apostle General of the Royal House Chapel, Rev. Sam Korankye Ankrah, expressed appreciation to the President and said the Christian community in Ghana was grateful to him for his sterling leadership and display of sensitivity in the face of the unseen enemy, the COVID-19.