A Ranking Member of Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs is urging the government to follow the examples of other countries and evacuate Ghanaian students at Wuhan in China.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in a statement believes it is time for the government to follow the World Health Organisation evacuation and quarantine protocols other nations have complied with and proceed to evacuate the 170 students and other Ghanaians.
“It is better to have our compatriots back to Ghana safely, particularly at this time that there is no confirmation of a Ghanaian case than for us all to be sorry later,” he said in a short post on social media.
Below is his statement:
I have been in regular communication with a number of our students in Wuhan, including the NUGS President of the Wuhan Chapter, Sampson Opoku and Comrade Baba Musah to check on their welfare and assure them of our collective solidarity in this time of heightened nervousness.
Considering that the WHO has declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency following an upsurge in the death toll, now at 213 and the devastating spread which has led to over 10,000 confirmed cases across 18 countries; I would urge our Government to reconsider its position and emulate the worthy example of many other countries currently evacuating their nationals from Wuhan in the Hubei Province.
I believe it is time to follow the WHO evacuation and quarantine protocols other nations have complied with and proceed to evacuate the 170 Ghanaian students and other Ghanaians currently feeling trapped at the epicentre of what the WHO is describing as an unprecedented outbreak.
Better to have our compatriots back to Ghana safely, particularly at this time that there is no confirmation of a Ghanaian case than for us all to be sorry later.
May we continue to pray for our compatriots and for the international community to contain the situation.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Ranking Member of Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs
[MP, North Tongu]