Following the lockdown imposed by the President in the month of April, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection embarked on an exercise to distribute food to the vulnerable in the society.
The exercise, however, came under heavy criticism after viral videos of the distribution of food showed zero social distancing amongst the receivers and distributors of the food.
The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Cynthia Morrison, has however stated that the vulnerable should not be overly criticized for what ensued during the food distribution exercise. According to her, it is our nature to defy social distancing when cueing for food.
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Speaking in an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, she said: “When it comes to food, we all don’t observe social distancing. Even at parties and funerals we cue for food. We shouldn’t think it is only the vulnerable that cues for food. When there is something being distributed, everyone wants to get it first. After we have what we want we don’t think about the next person. That is our culture and it is something that we need to change”.
She, however, advised that as a people we need to change our lifestyle and learn the attitude of patience when benefiting from a distribution exercise. “When we began to share masks, I remember everyone was seated but after sometime there was chaos as to where the distribution should start from. We have to learn to wait our turn”, she added.
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Despite the common notion that there was no coordination between the security officials and the Ministry in distribution of food, the Minister revealed that there was so much coordination between the two. She furthered that the Police, the Military and the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) were directly involved in the distribution of food.
In explaining the viral videos that showed no observance for social distancing, she explained that one of the videos was from a private organization that was sharing food without observing protocols while the other video from Kumasi was as a result of unexpected people trooping in because of an announcement made on radio.
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Since the viral videos made waves on social media, the Ministry has taken the necessary measures to ensure that the social distancing protocols are adhered to during the distribution of food.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah