Government must pay for upkeep of stranded returnees – MP

The MP for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, wants government to pay for the upkeep of stranded Ghanaians when they return home to undergo quarantine.

The legislator believes the government has requested for enough funds to be able to cater for their needs during the two-week mandatory quarantine.

According to him, it would be disingenuous for government to ask persons who were stranded to pay for their own upkeep during quarantine.

Government came to Parliament on three different occasions to ask for money. They got GHS16.7 billion,” Mr. Dafeamekpor told Citi FM.

“They turned some of these things to international bond and all and they got every single dime under the program. And one of the key things they told Parliament was that they are spending money to evacuate Ghanaians from other regions and when they do so, they will have to feed them for a number of days to conform to the protocols.”

Many Ghanaians abroad have expressed their unhappiness about the amount being charged by government to quarantine them when they are evacuated back to Ghana.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry plans to airlift “willing” Ghanaians, quarantine them for a period of 14 days, before reintegrating them back into society if they test negative for COVID-19.

But these stranded Ghanaians are not only expected to pay for their air tickets, the government also requests that the foot the bill for the 14-day quarantine period.

In a statement, the Ghana Embassies said they will be quarantined in two-star and four-star hotels which cost GHc500 per night and GHc600 per night, respectively.

This means each stranded Ghanaian that is evacuated will pay at least GHc7,000 or GHc8,400 to cover the cost of their quarantine, depending on which hotels they are lodged in.

This, many of the stranded Ghanaians, believe is too expensive and want the government to intervene.