RESIDENTS OF Obuasi are being stigmatized in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, over the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Obuasi has become the epicentre of the spread of Covid-19 in the region, as hundreds of people have tested positive for the virus so far.
As a result of the alarming statistics, residents of Kumasi are reported to have started to discriminate against residents of Obuasi.
Some of the Obuasi residents, who called into radio programmes to share their ordeal, said they no longer feel welcome in Kumasi.
According to them, nobody in Kumasi was prepared to deal with people that live in Obuasi, which is making life unbearable for them.
“Immediately they realize that you are from Obuasi, then they would instantly stop talking to you,” an Obuasi resident said on radio.
Obuasi, popularly referred to as the ‘Golden City’ apart from Kumasi, is among the major commercial towns in the Ashanti Region.
As a result of the vibrant business nature in the two towns, people from Kumasi and Obuasi travel either ways on a daily basis to do business.
But since it was announced that several people in Obuasi had tested positive for the virus, business between residents of the two cities is dwindling.
“Our businesses are collapsing because our partners in Kumasi are not prepared to talk and deal with us anymore,” an Obuasi resident bemoaned.
Another resident from Obuasi, who mentioned only Dada as his name, said unfortunately any resident of Obuasi was being seen as a Covid-19 patient.
“We are suffering great discrimination in Kumasi due to the virus, and so we are appealing to authorities concerned to step in immediately,” he pleaded.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi