The presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Mahama says praising President Akufo-Addo's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic will not cause the disease to disappear.

In his latest #JohnMahamaLive on Facebook, the former president once again questioned the Akudo-Addo administration’s management of the crisis adding that continuous increase in Ghana’s Covid-19 cases is proof of poor leadership.

“You cannot do propaganda with a pandemic. Lining up Council of State members, chiefs, student groups to the seat of government to congratulate the president on his handling of the pandemic will not let the virus go away.

“The infections and deaths will ultimately expose you,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo has been praised by numerous bodies, experts and the Council of State for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chairman of the Council of State, Nana Otuo Siribuo II extolled the president, stating that even his regular updates through nationwide broadcasts have “brought encouragement to the country.

“Indeed, looking at one of the speeches, it reminded me of the way Churchill adopted the affairs of Britain during the 2^nd World War and I said Mr President this has been very ‘Churchillian’ both in your delivery and in your comportment and in the depth and content of your speech,” he said during a meeting at the Jubilee House on April 21.

Then, Ghana had 1,042 confirmed Covid-19 cases but with the case count now at 12, 929 as of June 16, Mr Mahama doubts if those exaltations are a true reflection of Ghana’s situation.

“The present situation we are grappling with could have been avoided if suggestions offered by well-meaning Ghanaians, including myself we heeded by government.

“The Akufo-Addo administration refused to listen to calls to include Assembly members and traditional leaders in public education about the disease, in distribution of Covid relief items and in contact tracing and surveillance.”

This, Mr Mahama said resulted in the “disorderly and chaotic distribution of food that caused the lifting of the lockdown.”

Public education on the disease, in the former president’s view has also been abysmal and understanding of its transmission is low.

“Messages in our major local languages are very few or non-existent in many cases. This has reflected in the total absence of physical distancing in our public places such as markets and transport terminals,” he added.

Had government involved traditional leaders in guiding surveillance and contact tracing, the country would have yielded positive outcomes.

“Because they know their communities well. The consequence of government’s decisions borne out of short term political considerations instead of the science of the pandemic has been the rising number of Covid-19 infections and the resultant deaths we are seeing today.”