The Communication Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi and three other Ghanaians have sued the Attorney General, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana Airport Company over a directive relating to the compulsory COVID-19 vaccination at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
The applicants who also include Bernard Ackah-Blah, Mawuko K. Kwame and Berys Ama Sarpong, in the writ are claiming a breach of their fundamental human right as enshrined under Article 21(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution.
They claim that the directive by government for all persons above 18 years who are entering the country through the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to show a proof of full vaccination for COVID-19 violates among others, Section 2(1) of the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (Act 1012.
Government’s mandatory vaccination policy had directed that all unvaccinated Ghanaians and people with residential status who will be returning to the country after 14 days from midnight of December 13 this year will be vaccinated on arrival.
The directive and stipulated that all persons who are 18 years or above arriving in the country are required to provide evidence of full vaccination for COVID-19 as a way of curbing the spread of the virus.
But the directive has generated mixed reactions with a section of the public describing it as a way to force people to get vaccinated.
Sammy Gyamfi and three other persons have taken the matter to court urging the court to reverse the directive which they claim breaches their fundamental human rights.
The writ avers that the directive contravenes the guidelines of the Food and Drugs Authority on the administration of Emergency Use Authorised medical products and same is unreasonable.
They are therefore, seeking a declaration that the directives contravene the directives of the World Health Organisation regarding proof of COVID-19 vaccination for international travellers and that same is unreasonable.
They are also seeking a declaration that the directives contravene medical ethics and best practices that govern COVID-19 vaccine administration.
The applicants are also seeking a certiorari for the said directives to be brought before the court for them to be quashed as having been made without any constitutional or legal or reasonable basis.
Again, they are seeking an order of prohibition or injunction against the respondents from going ahead to implement the said directive at KIA which constitute restrictions on the freedom of entry into Ghana of citizens and freedom of leaving Ghana of all persons.
The writ is scheduled for January 18, 2022.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak