President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has extended by an additional three months, the compulsory wearing of nose mask directive in Ghana.
He announced this on Sunday, September 20, 2020, during his 17th address to the nation on the COVID-19 outbreak in Ghana.
In announcing this, the president urged law enforcement agencies to ensure the directive is adhered to by all.
“On Monday, 14 September 2020, I extended the Executive Instrument of the mandatory wearing of face mask by three months. So until December 14, 2020, the wearing of masks remains mandatory. The law enforcement agencies will be required to ensure this directive is respected by all.”
“It has served us well in the fight against COVID-19, so I urge each and every one of us to wear our mask and do so correctly anytime we leave our homes. This is the new normal requirement of our daily existence until the virus disappears,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo through an Executive Instrument, on June 14, 2020, made the wearing of face masks mandatory in the wake of a sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in Ghana.
“With the doctors and scientists telling us that the virus is transmitted from human contact, through talking, singing, coughing and sneezing, which results in sending droplets of the virus from one person to another, residents of these four regions, and, indeed, all Ghanaians, must remember that the wearing of masks is now mandatory.”
“Leaving our homes without a face mask or face covering on is an offence. The Police have been instructed to enforce this directive, which is the subject of an Executive Instrument,” the President said at the time.
According to paragraph 4(2) of E.I. 164, any person who fails to comply with the mandatory wearing of nose masks shall be punished in accordance with Section 6 of Act 1012.
Per Section 6 of Act 1012, “a person who fails to comply with the restrictions imposed under the Executive Instrument issued under subsection 1 of Section 2 commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than 1,000 penalty units (GHS12,000) and not more than 5,000 penalty units (GHS 60,000) or to a term of imprisonment not less than four years and not more than 10 years or to both.”
Source: citinewsroom.com
