The President of the National House of Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV, has thanked the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for instituting the bold measures that have resulted in a rather low infection rate of 1.5% in the country.
Delivering his remarks on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, when the Executive Committee of the National House of Chiefs held a meeting at the invitation of President Akufo-Addo at Jubilee House, Togbe Afede XIV extended the appreciation of the entire House of Chiefs to the President for this feat.
“On behalf of my colleagues, I wish to congratulate you for all the bold decisions that have produced this low infection rate – the ban on public gatherings, closure of our borders, social distancing and the recent lockdown of parts of the country. They are very commendable, bold decisions,” he said.
According to Togbe Afede XIV, the National House of Chiefs has taken a keen interest in the fight against COVID-19, and, “that is why, among other things, we have asked our Chiefs and other traditional rulers to put in their maximum effort in support of government”.
He continued: “We consider our country to be at war, and so we have asked our Chiefs to take it as their obligation to lead the fight against COVID-19, the invisible enemy. We asked our chiefs to rise up to the occasion and support government’s efforts to fight the disease.”
Amongst others, Togbe Afede revealed that all Chiefs across the country have been asked to keep abreast of the preventative measures and directives issued by government, and to abide by them and educate their subjects in order to stem the spread of the disease in their various communities.
Again, he indicated that the National House of Chiefs has asked for the suspension of all traditional festivals, and asked chiefs to ensure that any rites or traditional activities and purification rites are consistent with the President’s directives on social distancing.
“I am happy to note that our various regional houses, traditional councils, individual chiefs have all been very supportive and have done various things in their communities to support the fight and I am glad about the appreciation that you have shown for these various efforts. Everybody here has done something in his community, some donated cash and some have educated their communities on the directives,” he added.
Expressing his delight about the fact that “so far, Ghana has not recorded COVID- related violence, the type we hear about in India and all those places”, he indicated that the policies introduced by President Akufo-Addo that “have been adopted here are generally understood and have been observed by our people”.
Togbe Afede noted that the COVID-19 pandemic should imbibe in all Ghanaians the importance of savings and investments against a rainy day.
“We must cultivate a saving habit in preparation for future exigencies. Your Excellency, I also want to re-echo the point you have made very often that we are in this battle together against the invisible enemy and we all need to be united and nation minded in all that we say at this critical time in our nation’s history,” he noted.
