Ghana’s Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah resigned from the post on Friday after admitting that he violated coronavirus self-isolation protocol by visiting a public place while being tested positive for the pandemic before his self-isolation period was complete, reported Reuters.
“The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Friday, 3rd July, 2020, accepted the resignation from office of the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Hon. Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, MP, which takes immediate effect,” Ghana’s presidency announced in a statement.
“This follows the admission by the Deputy Minister of his breach of the COVID-19 protocols, when as a person certified to be positive for the virus, he visited a registration centre before period of self-isolation was complete,” the statement read.
Ghana has recorded 18,134 coronavirus cases, one of the highest number of coronavirus cases in the continent since the outbreak, with 117 recorded deaths, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based John Hopkins University.
The deputy trade and industry minister became the latest Ghanaian government official to have tested positive for coronavirus. Last month, Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman Manu tested positive for the virus and Kobina Sam, mayor of Sekondi-Takoradi, died due to COVID-19 related complications.
In related news, the Ghana government pardoned 794 prisoners on Thursday as part of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The Ghana Prisons Service confirmed that the prisoners were pardoned with the approval of President Nana Akufo-Addo. Among those who have been released include people who had been arrested for the first time, were seriously ill or aged 70 and above. 808 prisoners were previously pardoned as part of the country’s COVID-19 measure.
The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than over 529,000 lives in 188 countries and regions since it originated in Wuhan, China last December. The US, Brazil, Russia, and India are among the worst-hit countries in the world.
