Former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, has observed that the US continues to cede world leadership following a decision by President Donald Trump to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to him, the decision by the ‘no-nonsense’ American President “Is a tragic mistake to withhold funding to WHO in the midst of this dreadful #COVID19 pandemic”.

Donald Trump this week announced that he is halting funding to the World Health Organization after accusing it of helping China to cover up the spread of coronavirus. The president said he was cutting between $400million and $500million of funding to the UN-backed body on Tuesday after accusing it of taking China’s alleged lies about the spread and mortality rate of coronavirus at face value.

He said those alleged blunders had allowed the virus to spread and caused deaths that could have been avoided. Speaking on the White House lawn, Trump followed through on a threat he first made last week, saying: ‘Today I am instructing my organization to halt funding of the world health organization while a review is conducted to assess the WHO’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the Coronavirus.

The deadly Coronavirus has killed a number of people across the world with the United State of America, Italy, Spain other European countries hardly hit by the pandemic.

Ghana has recorded 636 positive cases with her death toll standing at 8. The Greater Accra leads in the numbers followed by the Ashanti Region.

The US continues to cede world leadership... It is a tragic mistake to withhold funding to WHO in the midst of this dreadful #COVID19 pandemic.

— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) April 15, 2020