MPs KIA Picketing Suspended
The three legislators, Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Kwame Agbodza and Member of Parliament for Juaboso, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh have suspended their Kotoka International Airport (KIA) picketing agenda.
Ahead of the commencement of the protest, the MPs announced its suspension following the address of President Akufo-Addo on Sunday, March 27, 2022, easing some covid restrictions and measures that have been in place since 2020.
The MPs fabricated the picketing action as a way of compelling the government to “curtail” COVID-19 antigen testing undertaken by Frontiers Health Services (FHS) at the cost of $50 for ECOWAS citizens and $150 non ECOWAS citizens at the KIA.
The action was slated to begin on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, from 2 pm to 6 p.m each day until the government revised the antigen testing measure at the airport.
But following the address of the president, Ablakwa, one of the three MPs said, “his team has communicated to the Greater Accra regional police command about “our decision to suspend the intended picketing”.
“We have however told them that there are lingering concerns which we will be seeking clarity from government and if those factors are not satisfactorily resolved, we reserve the right to carry out this picketing at another time which will be communicated”.
Speaking on Eyewitness News monitored by opemsuo.com, the North Tongu constituency representative in Parliament indicated that the president’s address to the nation failed to convey clearly the fate of Frontiers Health Services Limited at the airport.
It appears to us that that whole extortionist machine is still in place and is going to continue to be in place…if the policies have changed- that you cannot enter Ghana unvaccinated and without a negative PCR test- then we don’t need the services of FHS at the airport, he stated.
“We want to see Frontiers pack and leave”, he said and added that the minority will pursue the lingering questions with the Transport Minister when he appears in Parliament to answer some questions today, March 29, 2022.
Among the measures in easing the restrictions at the airport, President Akufo-Addo noted that fully vaccinated travellers coming into Ghana through the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), will not be required to take PCR tests from the country of embarkation to allow them entry into Ghana, and will not be tested on arrival.
However, Citizens and foreign residents in Ghana, who are not fully vaccinated, would need to provide a negative PCR test result of not more than 48-hours, undergo an antigen test upon arrival at KIA, and be offered vaccination there.
Jumping to the defence of the FHS, president Akufo-Addo during his address said, “It is worth noting that the establishment of the COVID-19 testing infrastructure at the Kotoka International Airport by Frontier Healthcare Services Ltd, at its own cost, has been key to our ability to limit successfully the importation of the virus into Ghana through the airport.
“The efficacy of the testing regime at KIA has won global admiration and has been applauded by all those who have undergone its testing. It has been one of the reasons why Ghana was not at the receiving end of several of the travel bans imposed by the West at the height of the pandemic, for which many African countries were affected”.
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
