The economy will crumble if we do another lockdown

General news for Sunday January 31, 2021

Source: Peace FM

2021-01-31

Founder and leader of Alive Chapel International, Archbishop Elisha Salifu Amoako advised the Akufo-Addo government against medical professionals calling for a lockdown due to the recent rise in the rate of Covid-19 infection.

Pleading with President Nana Akufo-Addo, Bishop Salifu Amoako is firmly convinced that the lockdown of the country will spell disaster for the country as the economy will end up being severely affected.

In a media interview at a press conference, the leader of Alive Chapel International feared the economy could crash if the president heeded the call from those military medics to lock down the country.

Acknowledging that President Akufo-Addo was a listening president, Bishop Salifu Amoako pleaded with him to consider the effect the lockdown could have on the economy and the well-being of Ghanaians in general, taking a clue from the partial lockdown that the nation experienced at the start of the pandemic last year.

“I am going to plead with the President, because I know him, to be a listening President and that is the reason why I love him. He is someone who does not rush to make a decision because he is mature. He shouldn’t listen to those calling for a lockdown due to the rising rate of Covid-19 infection; if he is not careful and locks the country, we will be in difficulty, ”he pleaded.

He added that the lockdown of the country as proposed by a group of people will at the end of the day go against God’s promise to improve the country’s economy this year; claiming that the government alone cannot feed the 30 million people.

“We had a partial lockdown and we saw what happened in the country. We are 30 million people and government alone cannot feed the 30 million people. This year, God has promised us that the country’s economy will grow and therefore we should not do anything that will destroy the economy, ”he noted.

“If the government listens to the call from some of the medical professionals to lock down the country, economically the country will shrink because everyone will stay at home and no product or service will take place and people will become a burden and the same people complain, ”he said.

He said Ghanaians cannot even stay home for just three days without doing their chores to provide their daily bread; thus, the 30 million Ghanaians cannot cope with the situation and the government will lose more income.

“Can you imagine 30 million Ghanaians staying at home for just three days? Do you know how much revenue the Ghanaian government will lose during the three days of no business activity? If we stay at home for just three days, the Ghanaian government will lose more income than anything, ”he asked.

He was of the opinion that the call for the lockdown will not help the country and the government itself, recalling that America with the record of over 30,000 deaths from Covid-19 being more than the total of recorded cases and the death rate in the country has not locked the country down yet, knowing the effect of the lockdown on America.

“My advice to the government is that the lockdown will not help us because even America which has recorded over 30,000 deaths from Covid-19, more than the total number of recorded cases and the number of death cases in the country did not lock up the country. This is because they realized that the lockdown destroyed their economy. They had a system in place to buy food and other items online, but in this country , how many people even know how to make the internet work? ”he said.

He warned that the same people would set fire to the government if President Akufo-Addo heeded the call of military medics to lock down the country; reiterating that Ghanaians will even stand up to break the laws especially since they may have to go get something to eat.

“Do you know that 75% of the Ghanaian population are very poor? So if you tell the poor person to close their doors and not go to the market to sell their food and do petty trading for an income and even stay home for just two days, at the end of the day day the same people will come out and complain; they will bomb the government, ”he stressed.

He, however, implored the Akufo-Addo government to enforce the strength of the security protocols in place to ensure that everyone adheres to them, as wearing a nasal mask, regular hand washing under running water and the practice of social distancing should be imposed.

‘Doctors screaming and calling for a lockdown should check the percentage of infection rate and death rate linked to Covid-19 and compare those records to those in London and other parts of the world and they will know we are better. far from them and yet they have not locked their country ”, he declared.

“We must not crush the economy; let things run smoothly by allowing people to go for their daily bread, but ensure strict adherence to preventative Covid-19 labels through the police. The only thing they can do is apply security protocols, ”he advised.