It Was Negligent To Leave Students In Wuhan – Ablakwa

NDC legislator Okudzeto Ablakwa says it was negligent and embarrassing for government to leave Ghanaian students in Wuhan, China.

The North Tongu MP led the Minority in Parliament’s call for students and other Ghanaians in the Hubei province to be evacuated when the Covid-19 was first discovered.

The call was, however, ignored with government rather opting to send supplies to the students who were then under a draconian lockdown in the Asian country.

Communicators of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) later lashed out at Ablakwa and his colleagues, claiming that had the call been followed, Ghana would have been devastated by the pandemic; like Italy and other countries who evacuated their citizens.

But speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show yesterday, Mr Ablakwa said he has “no regrets for calling for evacuation.”

The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee maintained bringing the students home was and is the right option.

He said the evacuation would have followed WHO protocols, therefore, there was no risk of importing the virus.

The claim that countries who evacuated their citizens were badly hit as a result is “fake news,” the MP claimed.

He said the students would have, as protocol demanded, been tested before being allowed to enplane to Ghana.

Mr Ablakwa maintained that he was in touch with the Ghanaian students’ leadership in China and it was traumatising for them to watch on as other countries evacuated their citizens.

He said it is sad that Ghana did not stand up to be counted when other countries stood for their citizens.

“No government should be proud that it left students in harm’s way,” he told host of the show Roland Walker, adding it was “negligent and embarrassing.”

He added the government should have admitted it was not up to task rather than giving excuses such as the country had no national carrier.

He also faulted the late closure of the country’s borders despite leaving the students in Wuhan in a bid to avert importation of the virus.

The first cases of the Covid-19 were imported despite the students in China being left there, he said.