COVID-19 pandemic: Ghanaians want to see govt's plan and not just prayers - Mahama

He said it is good to seek the face of God in the midst of adversity, it is equally important for the government to have a detailed plan.

As part of efforts to fight the coronavirus, President Nana Akufo-Addo declared Wednesday as a day for Christians and Muslims to fast and pray nationwide.

So far, Ghana has recorded twenty-one cases with one death.

"I urge all of us, also, to seek the face of the Almighty. So, on Wednesday, 25th March, 2020, I appeal to all Ghanaians, Christians and Muslims, to observe a national day of fasting and prayer," President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said in his address to the nation on Saturday.

He said: "Let us pray to God to protect our nation and save us from this pandemic".

"I thank the men and women of God who prayed for the nation with me on Thursday, and with the Vice-President on Friday, for their intervention," he added.

However, Mahama speaking at the end of a three-day fasting and prayer session declared by the NDC on Sunday said: "It is my earnest prayer that at a time such as this, the public welfare will triumph over personal and partisan interest”, adding: “Our leaders owe this nation not just prayers but a plan, too."

He explained: "One that all of us can believe in, that we can rally around, and that we can commit our hearts and mind to. For while hope brings comfort, it is not, in itself, a strategy. We must project the course of this disease while taking a cue from best- and worst-case response scenarios such as Korea and Italy even as the world accelerates research toward the production of a vaccine.

"A plan that involves ensuring that frontline health care workers as a matter of urgency have the manuals, appropriate training and protective logistics to boost their confidence in fighting this disease. We must act even as we pray! I have made a firm commitment to support the authorities in whatever way possible, and whenever called upon, to combat this pandemic."