After crunch meetings and consultations with Muslim and Christian leaders, President Akufo-Addo has directed them to go back to church and pray for the nation with a maximum duration of one (1) hour for each service.
The Minister for Religious Affairs, will, today, Monday, 1st June, outline, in detail, the specific guidelines for the safe reopening of churches and mosques.
But in his 10th address to the nation on Sunday, May 31, 2020, the President said “An abridged format for religious services can commence. Twenty-five percent (25%) attendance, with a maximum number of one hundred (100) congregants, can worship at a time in church or the mosque, with a mandatory one-meter rule of social distancing between congregants. In addition to the mandatory wearing of masks for all persons at all times in churches and mosques, a register of names and contact details of all worshippers and hand washing facilities and sanitizers must be provided.”
Nana Akufo-Addo said “Religious institutions that are desirous of opening their premises to their members, such as churches, mosques, and others, must disinfect, fumigate and put in place the requisite logistics needed to guarantee safe opening and operation. They must work with the designated, regulatory bodies and undertake test runs of the protocols I have outlined. I would appeal to them, in the case of Christians, on the first Sunday of re-opening, i.e. 7th June, in the case of the Adventists, Saturday, 6th June, and in the case of Muslims, on the first Friday, i.e. Ṣalāt al-Jumuʿah on 5th June, to dedicate their worship to prayers for the nation in these challenging times.”
Source: Mybrytfmonline/Kofi Atakora
