Over 200 health workers including 99 medical doctors have petitioned the Chair of the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC) to halt the ongoing mass voter registration exercise in order to prevent Ghana from suffering potentially thousands of deaths from coronavirus.
The petition to Jean Adukwei Mensa is the second by these health workers.
In the first dated Wednesday, June 24, the health workers cautioned the EC on its intention to conduct the exercise as they claimed it would lead to increased cases of Covid-19 and related deaths.
“The response from officialdom was that all public health protocols and precautions against Covid-19 will be adhered to.
“Unfortunately, ongoing events across the country have confirmed our worst fears,” they said.
Since the EC began the new registration exercise on Tuesday, June 30, a total of 2,344 cases have been recorded. These cannot, however, be said to be connected with the exercise.
But at most registration centres, Covid-19 preventive protocols have been blatantly disregarded and officers – both in charge of the exercise and security – have been helpless in most situations.
The health workers urged the Commission to suspend the exercise and go back to the drawing board to “figure out safer ways of carrying it out and prevent Ghana from suffering potentially thousands of deaths”.
They fear if the EC Chair chooses to continue the exercise in the current form, she will be “remembered by posterity as a leader who supervised an exercise that allowed for the loss of multiple lives”.
“We would entreat you to treat this correspondence with a lot of thought and measured reflection, thinking rightly about the primacy of life before any other considerations.”
Source: 3news.com|Ghana