Just a day into the partial lockdown imposed by President Nana Akufo-Addo on the country some 3 weeks ago which required only essential workers to move freely, a section of Ghanaians started complaining of financial constraints and hunger.
In responding to the call for government intervention, the Presidency working closely with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) put in place a hunger alleviation programme. The program saw the provision of hot meals and food items to the homeless and vulnerable in the lockdown zones.
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With the President lifting the partial lockdown today, questions have been raised if the hunger alleviation programme will be discontinued.
But the Minster for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Cynthia Mamle Morrison has laid to rest the minds of beneficiaries by assuring them “hot meals and food items will still be distributed.”
Speaking in an interview on the Happy Morning Show with Samuel Eshun, the Minister clearly stated, “The President will not just take away the relief all of a sudden because the lockdown has been lifted. It will take a couple of days for the vulnerable and petty traders to find their feet and stability in their business. We will still provide food to these groups of people.”
According to her the government is now focused on providing food items to the less privileged and vulnerable in the society but will keep on providing hot meals to the homeless.
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She assured that the beneficiaries will keep on reducing and the program will eventually be ended when most of these people find their feet once more. “We are focusing on distributing raw food to people at homes. The cooked food was for the homeless and couldn’t cook and we will keep providing them but at a reduced level,” she said.
The government begun distributing free meals to over 400,000 Ghanaians daily in lockdown areas amidst the COVID-19 outbreak in Ghana. This was done to minimize their vulnerability of poor households suffering from the lockdown.
By: Joel Sanco