Economist and Professor of Finance at the University of Ghana, Godfred Bokpin, has expressed worry over the looming lockdown in the country.

Speaking to JoyNews, he said a total lockdown could potentially pose a security crisis as most homes will be unable to fend for themselves in such a situation, thus leading to a sharp rise in crime rates.

He suggested that if the situation is not handled carefully and adequate provisions are not being made to cater for the less privileged in society, the situation could escalate and lead to the toppling of government.

“But I must say, a total lockdown will put all of us at risk when those majority Ghanaians are not sure where their next meal will come from. I don’t think you’ll be safe in your house. I don’t think I’ll be safe in my house.

“Well, I’m not a security person, but it could cause the downfall of the regime because if you don’t think through it carefully, and we miss it, that is it,” he said.

According to Professor Bokpin, for a lockdown to be effective and smooth running there has to be a lot of planning and considerations.

“We are not saying that it should not be considered but I believe that about the operational issues we have to think carefully. It requires considerate planning and a detailed one, with clear mapping with people, with credible honest people,” he said.

“We read about the challenges with LEAP livelihood empowerment against poverty. We heard about a number of those social interventions. How efficient were they?

“So these are the things I think we need to talk about perhaps at the policy level in terms of making the call and all of that.

“The core thing is how do we do this efficiently, effectively without compromising national security, without compromising individual security and all of that.

“A lot of Ghanaians live from hand to mouth. Not many of them have their hands reaching their mouths consistently so when you do a national lockdown, and then you disrupt that economic flow, the country must have a plan. The question we’re asking right now is what is the plan?”