All food vending activities in the Bosomtwe District have been banned outright from twelve o’clock noon per new directives circulated by the District Assembly.
The decision which differs from the Executive Orders handed down by president Nana Akufo-Addo was taken by the District Security Council, the Emergency Health Team and the relevant committees within the Assembly.
The directive which kicked off on Wednesday was preceded by information vans deployed to all the electoral areas warning all food vendors and provision shops to close down by 12:00 pm, or risk sanctions.
Already some eight persons have been arrested as the security deployment in the district has begun enforcing the directives.
The residents who are not enthused with the new directive have taken to radio stations complaining about the directive which they insist does not tally with what they heard from the president’s latest lockdown directives on the Greater Kumasi Area.
A resident of Bosomtwe fumed, “Our people are being arrested indiscriminately and damped in pickups defeating the instructions for social distancing just because they went outside after twelve o’clock. Even health staff who closed late from work couldn’t get passenger cars back home because the drivers were in fear.”
Indicating his support for the decision, the Assemblymember for Sewua Prince Kwame Adutwum pointed out that enough education went down before the new restrictions kicked in.
He explained, “The assembly sent out information service vans to all the electoral areas in Bosomtwe directing that all provision shops, food joints and food vendors should stop selling by twelve o’clock to keep the several people on the streets indoors.”
Meanwhile, the District Chief Executive Joseph Asuming has been justifying the new directives insisting that the town has almost turned into a funfair with everyone found on the streets giving excuses of going to buy one food item from the market or a provision store.
Arguing against assertions he was breaching an executive order, he contended that every law had to be interpreted holistically in the letter and spirit of it.
“Every law has its intent and the letter and spirit. The president wants to ensure that people stay indoors but when everybody is on the streets and they all tell you they are either going to buy rice, milk or sardines, then to what effect is the lockdown?,” he questioned.
Lawyer Asuming indicated that in the same spirit of enforcing the president’s lockdown directives, market days which were observed in Esreso on Monday, Aputuagya on Tuesday, Kontenase on Thursday and Jachie on Friday have all been halted and observed as normal market days.
He was however emphatic that medical personnel are allowed to operate without any restrain beyond the 12-noon restriction.
—starrfmonline
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