COVID-19 Fight: 8 Ghanaians assess Akufo-Addo's performance so far

President Nana Akufo-Addo has also made the provision of water free for the next 3 months to all Ghanaian households as well as the subsidizing of eletricity tarrifs by 50 percent.

Prez. Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo Pulse Ghana

Despite all these major interventions, some critics believe the government hasn't done enough to make sure Ghana gets ahead of the virus.

Some believe the lifting of the 3-week lockdown of Accra and Kumasi were premature and it will lead to more case infections of the virus.

We, therefore, sampled the views of 8 Ghanaians in different fields on their assessment of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the fight against COVID-19:

1 . Wilson, Financial analyst

"I think he's handled it pretty well overall. But I disagree with the loosening of the partial lockdown at the time it was done. A bit too early if you ask me. But yeah it's not easy trying to battle this virus and balancing allowing people to fend for themselves. And I think the gov't needs to be a bit more transparent with how they issue the figures to us. So we have a clearer picture of what's going on."

2 . Nii, Self Employed

"From a citizens stand point he has handled it well with the constant update on measures being taken. It’s reassuring to hear the president speak and ooze confidence during this pandemic. It gives us hope that we will beat it and also it doesn’t give cause for panic but rather trust him more. It seems everything they’ve done up till now has proven to be effective and long may it continue".

President Nana Akufo-Addo Pulse Ghana

3 . Abdul, Banker

"I think the government ahs done well with its PR during this pandemic. Implementation of reliefs not the best. Doesn't seem like there was a lot of consultation before the announcement. They only focused on the finances and not the implementation on the ground. Also, too much political talk when there's a lot of work to be done. But I've been impressed with how they are scaling up testing capacity."

4 . Kojo, Journalist

"I think he has handled it quite well. The frequent addresses, how he handled the lockdown and everything else has been good. It has highlighted the deficiencies in our health system and that very hard to take for citizens and himself alike."

5 . Jane, Office Assistant

"I think the interventions are great i. e closing of borders & Airports (though late), partial lock down,hot meals etc. His regular updates are great too, it helps with miscommunication and gives a sense of safety. The major set back is the implementation and also monitoring and evaluation. The officials and Institutions tend to struggle with how to practically make the directives work. There are no police men on the ground to ensure that people are masked. Some shops allow people to just walk in without ensuring the protocols ( I went to 2 such places yesterday)"

6 . Kwabena, PRO

"I'll say it could have been better. For one part, the government was proactive in dealing with the situation but the lockdown showed that very little planning went into it. Events that unfolded exposed serious lapses in the government's response such as absence of any social intervention measures for the vulnerable in Ghanaian society. What resulted was an ad hoc response and fire fighting approach which should not be the case. The government kept trying to deal with the numerous situations as they arose but considering the fact that this event is unprecedented you can only hope that they learn from what has transpired and are better prepared for the next crisis."

7 . Nana Kwaku, DJ

"I think it has been good generally, however, I feel government can be a liitle open in terms of they release the case counts. Also the partial lifting of the lockdown was premature in my opinin."

8 . Abena, Nurse

"The response has been good. The reliefs on power and water is superb. However, government has to scale up in the provision of PPEs to health workers across the country. They are woefully inadequate currently."