There was no pressure on President Nana Akufo-Addo to ease the restrictions imposed on Ghanaians to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Deputy Information Minister Pious Hadzide has said.

On Sunday, 31 May 2020, Nana Akufo-Addo eased certain restrictions as part of his government’s first-phase opening up of the country. 

For instance, he announced the re-opening of schools for only final-year students from JHS to the tertiary level. Churches and mosques can also open but with a limited number of worshippers not exceeding 100. Also, 100 people can now attend private funerals instead of the initial 25.

Some critics of the president have said he was pressured by certain unseen stakeholders to ease the restrictions.

Reacting to this on Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Monday, 1 June 2020, Mr Hadzide said: “There was no pressure on the president to ease the restrictions. The President willingly invited stakeholders to discuss ways to ease the restrictions having said that we cannot continue to live under restrictions forever.”  

“Maybe, because he’s a lawyer, he doesn’t succumb to pressure, he understands democracy and, so, he listens to divergent opinions. It has nothing to do with pressure,” he added.

According to the Deputy Information Minister, although there were a lot of proposals on the President’s desk, there was no pressure on him to make the decisions he announced on Sunday.