The Covid-19 National Trust Fund, on Thursday donated a Mitubishi Double Cabin Pick-up vehicle to the National Commission on Culture in addition to a financial support of Six Hundred and Forty-Six Thousand, Four Hundred Ghana Cedis (GHC646,400).
Speaking at the ceremony, the Chairperson of the Trust Fund, Justice Rtd Sophia Akufo said the donation to the NCC is to support the institution to carry out its mandate of maintaining the unique cultural identity and values for the promotion of an integrated national culture, as well as contribute to the overall economic development of the nation.
“This support from the Trust Fund is meant to re -tool and equip the Commission to acquire some of the needed logistics and equipment to enable them reach out to the various communities especially in the rural areas to help in the education and sensitization of the public through culturally sensitive information in its holistic and appropriate forms on the effective combat of th COVID-19 pandemic”.
Justice Rtd Sophia Akufo reiterated that the donation forms part of the realization of the need by the National Trust Fund to expand the base of its stakeholders.
“This forms part of the realization of the need National Trust Fund to expand the base of its stakeholders such as, groups, associations, private and public organizations to serve as implementation partners to assist the Trust Fund to effectively discharge its statutory mandate of complementing the efforts of government to combat the pandemic” she said.
“The COVID-19 National Trust Fund has established a working partnership with both state and private organizations with the aim of forming a stronger collaborative partnership towards the combat of the COVID-19 pandemic including, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE),the Ghana Medical Association,(GMA)”
She said the Trust Fund has since its establishment worked with various organizations or institutions as well private NGOs to assist the Trust Fund in the area of public education, information dissemination and public sensitization programmes in the various communities across the country on the Coronavirus pandemic, especially the need for the strict adherence to the prevention and safety protocols such as, regular hand washing with soap under running water, appropriate wearing and disposal of face mask, regular hand sanitizing ,and adequate physical distancing
“We appreciate the various forms of information delivery including the cultural aspects of information such as language, arts, drama, music, dance artforms ,and many more as other important and effective ways of reaching out to community members and also getting them to appreciate and accept the messages being conveyed” she note.
The COVID-19 National Trust Fund has provided a variety of support packages to section of individuals, groups, associations, and institutions since its establishment in March,2020 towards the combat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From over GHC 57 Million Cedis received as at the end of November 2020 in cash, and about GHC8 Million Cedis worth of items in in kind, the Trust Fund has spent over GHC 41 Million Cedis on several relief packages including the distribution of PPE, Thermometer Guns, Cover Alls, Surgical Masks, Overalls ,Hand and Surface Sanitizers, Veronica buckets, Hand washing systems, Tissue papers, Carbolic Soap, Liquid Soap, Ambulances, Saloon Cars and Pick Up vehicles including
The Chairperson said the Trust Fund has donated to about 200 hospitals, Care Management Centers, Testing Centers, Isolation centers, Health centers and CHP Compounds across the 16 regions of the.
“We have also provided financial support to the Ghana Health Service and other testing centers to acquire Reagents to boost testing for the disease and several other interventions that time ” she pointed out
Calling on all to continue to observe the COVID-19 safety protocols in order to stay Healthy and safe, the chair of the Trust Fund called on the NCC to put the Vehicle and the financial support to good use in order to achieve the objectives.
According to Mrs Elizabeth Nyame, Executive Director, National Commission on Culture, the gesture had come at the right time especially the the country is looking to calm nerves down after the 2020 general elections.This she said will augment their efforts and position them well to help in educating Ghanaian about the need to refrain from acts that will cause disunity, confusion and troubles.She went further to mention that since the pandemic is still around, the commission would use the kind gesture from the trust fund to equip itself to use culture to spread the news about the need to strictly adhere to the safety protocols and also inform them about the consequences if they are not adhered to.She assured the Trust that the vehicle would be put to good use and regularly maintained to ensure its use.Mrs Nyame hinted that the commission would soon roll out a system in six regions namely, Greater Accra, Central, Western, Volta, Bono and Eastern Regions to educate the populace through culture to ensure that the pandemic is carefully fought against in all homes.She added that they would also come to the trust when the need arises for support.