As part of measure to curb the spread of Coronavirus, nicknamed Covid-19, president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Sunday March 22, 2020, announced the closure of the country’s borders for two weeks. As of that time, there were 21 confirmed COVID-19 cases and one confirmed death nationwide.
The president again on Sunday, August 30, announced the reopening of the country’s air borders to international travel as of Tuesday, September 1, following their closure, the land borders, however, remained closed.
As of the time the president announced the opening of Ghana’s air space on Monday, August 31, there have been 44,205 confirmed cases of COVID, with 276 associated fatalities.
As at the time of writing this editorial, the number of covid-19 active cases was 159, this is according to ghs.gov.
It cannot be denied that, the country was able to manage the spread of the virus because of the closure, as the number of confirmed cases and death were at manageable level, compared to other countries.
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Notwithstanding the successes chalked by the border closure, the economy has also suffered tremendously due to the continuous closure.
Inflation has been on the rise, resulting in a spike in prices of staple foods in the country that could also be said to as a direct consequence of the closure.
Considering the number of active cases, it makes no sense to still keep the borders shut. Many small businesses have been asphyxiated, while many have lost millions of Ghana cedis, because of the continuous closure of the borders.
To be sure, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the key drivers behind the economic development of any country, especially a developing economy like Ghana.
Ghanaians living along the border towns, have time without number demonstrated against the continuous closure of the borders. They do so, because it affects their livelihood. It is, therefore, the considered opinion of this Newspaper that it is time to reopen the borders.
The government should also stop to reflect on the depreciating of the currency, against the dollar. The closure of the border, can be said to be one of the causes, as people who use to go to Nigeria and Togo to bring goods, no longer do so and the country has to rely on imports from China, United States of America, and other European countries.
Accordingly, we call on president Akufo-Addo, if has forgotten that our borders are closed, to without hesitation, reopen the borders as the pains of the continuous closure of the border, undoubtedly, outweigh the gains.
