Rt Rev Dr Victor Reginald Atta-Baffoe(left) making a presentation to some members of the Central Regional Logistics Mobilization Committee for COVID-19.

COVID-19: Anglican Diocese of Cape Coast donates to institutions

Gilbert Mawuli Agbey Apr - 16 - 2020 , 11:33

As part of its contributions to curtail the spread of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, the Anglican Diocese of Cape Coast has presented items worth GH₵8,000 to institutions in the Central Region.

The items presented which included a number of Veronica buckets, tissue papers, hand sanitizers, hand gloves, gallons of vegetable oil, quantities of liquid and assorted medical consumables and supplies.

They were presented to the Regional Logistics Mobilization Committee set up by the Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to mobilise logistics locally to combat the pandemic in the region and the Ankaful Main Camp Prison in Cape Coast.

Social responsibility

Speaking to Graphic Online after the presentation, the Bishop of the Cape Coast Diocese of the Anglican Church, Rt. Rev Dr Victor Reginald Atta-Baffoe, said that the church thought it wise to do the presentation as part of its social responsibility to stop the rapid spread of the pandemic in the country.

According to him, it was both the civic and religious responsibility of the church to offer the necessary support to the government in its quest to contain the further spread of the virus across the country.

He noted that just as Jesus Christ sacrificed His life to save mankind, the church in the wake of the pandemic ought to mobilize and sacrifice some of its resources to support particularly vulnerable groups in these trying times.

“Out of faith and conviction, the church is obliged to reach out and rescue the perishing in these difficult times through the presentation of relief items to augment the efforts of the government” he indicated.

“Indeed this gesture is in addition to the recent ₵60,000 donation to the COVID Fund by the Anglican Church of Ghana” he disclosed.

Response to President’s call

He commended the religious community, corporate bodies and public spirited individuals who have made various donations to frontline institutions and communities across the nation to tackle the pandemic.

“ The various financial contributions made to the COVID fund aimed at raising substantial amount of money to support those who would be heavily affected by the pandemic is highly commendable” Bishop Atta-Baffoe stated.

Gov’t response satisfactory

Touching on government’s response to the pandemic so far, he noted that the response of government had been very satisfactory since no government was fully prepared to respond to the deadly pandemic.

He lauded government for its diverse responses to the pandemic and further urged the citizenry to rally behind the government to tackle the pandemic head on in the interest of the nation, saying that “it was a bold decision by the President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to partially lockdown some parts of the country to control the spread of the virus”.

Rt Rev Dr Victor Reginald Atta-Baffoe(3right) together with some priests and other officials after the presentation at Ankaful Main Camp Prison.

He called on Ghanaians to adhere to the protocol on social distancing, wash hands regularly and use hand sanitizers as often as possible to prevent the spread of the virus.

Commenting on a possible total lockdown of the entire country, he noted that he would support such a move since it would control the spread of the virus, noting that “the virus has no legs and that if people stop moving, it would stop the spread of the pandemic”

Gratitude

Mr Georges Fritz Doe, a member of the Logistics Mobilization Committee, who received the items, thanked the church for the items and assured them that the items would be used for the intended purpose.

For his part, the Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Mr Abraham Asare of the Ankaful Prison thanked the church for the gesture as it would go a long way to alleviate some of their immediate challenges facility in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accompanying the Diocesan Bishop were the Dean of the Christ Church Cathedral, Very Rev Ebenezer Love Annan, Archdeacon of Cape Coast, Rev Fr. Joseph Sam and Archdeacon in charge of Human Resource, Venerable Bain Duodoo, among others.