Navro-Pio cautions against stealing and selling of donated PPEs

Paramount Chief of the Navrongo Traditional Area, P3 Denis Asagpaare Balinia Adda ll, has cautioned individuals, who have taken special interest in looting and selling donated Personal Protective Equipment(PPEs) meant for the fight against the novel Coronavirus Disease, to desist from the act.

Navro-Pio, who expressed his dislike for such behaviours following increasing reports in the media about how some donated PPEs have gone missing in some parts of the country, intimated that such acts were unpatriotic and undermining efforts of health authorities in containing the viral pandemic.

P3 Asagpaare was presenting public address equipment and logistics to volunteers from the entirety of the Kassena-Nankana areas and the 10 Paramountcies, under a preventive support outreach programme by the DezemTaaba Group on Saturday, when he gave the caution.

In a short speech, the Navro-Pio intimated that such acts should not allowed to thrive in Kassena-Nankana.

“Some people will always want to take advantage of everything. I heard in the news that some of the PPEs that have been donated, some people have stolen and are selling them. If that is true, then I think it’s very bad. It is not good to steal PPEs that is for the good of all of us for your individual use”.

The Chief was full of praise to the DezemTaaba Group for the support they have committed into combating the disease. He urged the volunteers, into whose care the equipment and other logistics have been put, to guard them jealously and desist from using them for purposes other than the collective interests and benefit of their communities.

“Don’t sell them. Use them to help your communities. What I said about the stolen PPEs hasn’t happened in Navrongo and I hope my Navrongo people will not do that,” Navro-Pio stated.

The equipment and logistics included 15 pieces of rechargeable megaphones, Alcohol-based hand sanitizers, Nose masks and some stationery. The group earlier made a donation of PPEs to the health directorates in the areas.

Coordinator for the outreach support programme, Dr. Dennis Chirawurah, explained that the volunteers have been put together for deployment into the rural communities to help sustain the education and sensitization on the COVID-19 to complement efforts of government and health authorities in the Municipal and District.

He said when measures for the containment of the disease were announced by the President, indigenes from home and abroad agreed to pool resources to support the Paramount Chiefs and people back home prevent the spread of the disease. Dr. Chirawurah mentioned that funding from the Kassena-Nankana community in the United Kingdom supported the group in the procurement of the items.

He encouraged the volunteers to move out into markets and engaged people in small groups to carry out the sensitization. He also urged them to work tirelessly for the good of the people and to keep an eye out for possible health threats and violations of the President’s directives and immediately report to health directorates and other appropriate authorities.

“Don’t get discouraged. Until we defeat the covid-19 in Ghana, no one should be discouraged with whatever little help you can give towards the national effort to contain it”. He urged the volunteers.

Dr. Chirawurah strongly cautioned the volunteers against using the public address system equipment for political campaigns in their communities.