Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Osei Bonsu Amoah, has called for the initiation of an Executive Instrument (EI), to help enforce social distancing protocols in the country’s markets.

This comes on the back of numerous reports of overcrowding at major markets across the country, in clear breach of the safety measures recommended by health experts to curb the spread of Covid-19.

President Akufo-Addo on April 19 lifted the restriction imposed on movement of people in parts of Ghana, following an earlier one on public gatherings, to reduce the transmission rate of the coronavirus and allow for aggressive testing.

The President, however, stayed the order of social distancing practices and closure of borders to maintain strides made by the lockdown.

After the reversal of this directive, authorities have faced a daunting task of getting traders to comply with this measure.

Some have been forced to shut down while others have been relocated to satellite markets by district assemblies, to enhance the observation of social distancing protocols amid the pandemic.

Speaking on the AM Show on JoyNews Wednesday, Mr O.B Amoah explained that an Executive Instrument will be a good “alternative arrangement” to ensure that the markets do not become breeding grounds of the novel coronavirus.

“As we speak, it’s more of protocols but as things get tighter, we also have to tighten the rules. Even though at the Assembly level you will say that by-laws are to be imposed on some of these things but probably, if a bigger force like an E.I comes in, then they know that this is what the laws say and this is how we should implement it,” the Akuapem South Member of Parliament said.

Ghana has recorded 1,154 cases of Covid-19 according to the Ghana Health Services as of April 22, 2020.