Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, on Thursday said the Assembly’s Covid-19 taskforce would arrest school children without face masks. 

According to her, officials of the district assembly will subsequently identify and sanction parents of those children for failing to wear the masks. She advised parents to provide their children with face masks and hand sanitisers to protect them against Covid-19.   

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mad Owusu-Banahene, who is also the Bono Regional Minister-designate, said the Assembly would deploy its Covid-19 taskforce to patrol and enforce the protocols in the municipality.   

Madam Justina noted that the Assembly, with support from the central government, had already supplied basic schools in the Municipality with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including Veronica buckets, nose masks and alcohol-based hand sanitisers. 

She added that the Covid-19 task force did an excellent work last year and that helped the Assembly to contain and prevent the spread of the pandemic.

Madam Justina added that the task force was, however, withdrawn along the way because the masses were adhering to the protocols. 

“Since the task force was withdrawn from the street of Sunyani, many people are complacent and are not wearing nose masks, and observing social distancing in public places,” she said.

Mad Owusu-Banahene indicated the Assembly would also support and re-ignite activities of ‘Masks Ambassadors’, a group that championed the use of nose or face masks. 

The Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive appealed to corporate, religious bodies and civil society organisation to support the Ambassadors with face masks for public distribution. 

She disclosed that her outfit had re-adopted the shift system that would separate traders and market women to lessen congestion at the Nana Bosoma Central Market and the Sunyani main market.   

Mad Owusu-Banahene expressed her gratitude to the Sunyani Traditional Council, and Nana Bosoma Asor NKrawiri II, Paramount Chief of Sunyani, in particular, for the support given to the assembly last year.   

She urged basic school heads and teachers to ensure that students use PPE appropriately.