The public should have followed Rawlings’s funeral on TV – NPP man

A member of the NPP Communications team has said that it would have served a greater purpose if the general public followed the final funeral rites of former president Jerry John Rawlings remotely.

Citing the Coronavirus spread in recent times, Eric Addo-Danquah said it was his opinion that gathering to celebrate the former leader needed to be done with little physical interaction.

“If my advice will be heeded to, I'll advise that people should stay home and watch Rawlings' funeral,” he said whiles making contributions on Accra-based Starr FM’s morning show.

The final rites started last Sunday with a requiem mass at the Holy Spirit Cathedral and a vigil held in his honour at the Air Force Mess in Accra.

Laying in state is between today and tomorrow after which burial will take place on Wednesday at the Military cemetery. Ghanaweb TV monitoring shows that people have been filing past his remains at the Accra International Conference Center, AICC.

There is strict observance of coronavirus protocols at the premises with all present wearing face masks, from the officials on duty to the members of public filing past.

One person who has expressed misgivings about the conduct of the four-day event is CEO of Bulk Oil and Storage and Transportation Company Limited, BOST; Senyo Hosi in a social media post asked government to consider a virtual funeral ceremony with rising cases of the virus.

“Amidst all that's obvious about our COVID-19 situation, I humbly plead that the State revises the structure of President Rawlings's funeral. It is undoubtedly heading for a super-spreader COVID-19 event.

“We can have this four-day session virtual as a TV production with physical attendance highly restricted to not more than 100 or 25 attendees,” his post read in part.