Fact-Check: Government NOT reopening borders or airports next week

A social media post claims the Minister for Aviation in an interview said the government is considering the reopening of borders and airports to human traffic next week.

The Aviation Minister did not grant the said interview. His office has further debunked the claim.

Full Text

Following the Coronavirus pandemic and its related impact, President Nana Addo Dankwa Addo Akufo-Addo in April announced a three-week partial lockdown of Accra and Kumasi associated with the closure of the country’s borders and other entry points in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.

However, on May 1, 2020, the president announced an extension of the border closure to May 31, 2020. Now, there is an indefinite closure of the country’s borders to international and human traffic as a result of the persistent spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

In his 14th address to the nation, President Akufo-Addo declared a further easing of COVID-19 induced restrictions indicating a path towards returning to normalcy in order to revive social and economic livelihood.

“Life cannot be put on hold indefinitely, and Ghana cannot remain in a never-ending crisis management situation. That is why we have been putting measures in place to gradually restore some normalcy in our social and economic lives, as we learn to cope with the reality of the virus,” Mr Akufo-Addo noted.

Although the president revealed that Ghana’s borders will remain closed until further notice, a special dispensation was granted to Ghanaian nationals who seek to return home from abroad. Such persons will be made to undergo mandatory quarantine.

The newly-issued orders also allowed for re-opening of some tourist centres and open-air drinking spots as well as the easing of restrictions for domestic flights and transportation services.

A Facebook post, however, claims the Minister for Aviation, Joseph Kofi Kowah Addah, said the government is considering reopening borders next week.

The post also claimed that the Minister said this while speaking on Accra based radio station JoyFM.

The claim was posted on Facebook by a user; “JM BA Kwadwo” and has since been shared on other social media platforms.

Verification

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer at the aviation ministry, Madeleine Insaidoo, said Minister Adda did not grant any interview or issued a press release announcing the reopening of the country’s borders.

Mrs Insaidoo labelled the claim as false and urged the public to disregard it.

“There’s not going to be any reopening of borders as of yet as it has been claimed on Facebook and the minister [Joseph Kofi Adda] has not granted an interview to that effect either, so these claims that are going around are indeed false. We are going to issue a statement to that effect soon,” she said.

The official Facebook account of the ministry of aviation later published a circular debunking the claims that Ghana’s border entry points will be reopened next week.

“The Ministry wishes to inform the general public that the above news item is false and that at no point in time, has Hon. Joseph Kofi Adda, Minister for Aviation, stated this in any interview or press release. So, it should be disregarded,” the circular read.

CONCLUSION: The Facebook post’s claim should, therefore, be viewed as twisting of information to misinform the general public. We, therefore, find the claim to be false and urge people to disregard it.