President Akufo-Addo has criticized travel limitations imposed on several African nations due to the Omicron coronavirus strain.
He characterized the prohibitions as tools for immigration control.
President Akufo-Addo made the remarks at a joint news conference with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Jubilee House on Saturday, as part of the South African leader’s two-day visit to Ghana.
“We repeated our firm opposition to all attempts to single out African countries for the imposition of travel bans, as instruments of immigration control, when we are told, for example, that the Omicron variant of COVID-19, which was recently sequenced and reported by South African scientists, was discovered much earlier in the Netherlands”.
The President’s remarks follow the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union’s decision to restrict travelers from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Egypt, Mozambique, Malawi, and Nigeria due to the finding of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
President Akufo-Addo stated that Ghana will stand with other African nations throughout the epidemic.
“I reiterated Ghana’s unflinching support to South Africa and, indeed, to all other African countries, in the common search for an end to the pandemic”.
South Africa’s president earlier criticized the travel restrictions established in the aftermath of the Omicron variant’s appearance and questioned their validity.
President Ramaphosa said that “the prohibition of travel is not confirmed by science, nor will it be effective in preventing the spread of this variant.”
The World Health Organization has also advised against blanket travel restrictions, claiming that they would not halt the variant’s worldwide spread.
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SOURCE: CITINEWS
