The Sunyani Municipal COVID-19 disease prevention Taskforce has donated food items, mostly raw vegetables to the inmates of the Sunyani Central Prison.

The items, including garden eggs, onion, pepper, tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, carrots, green pepper, okra and a quantity of roasted fish were seized from recalcitrant traders who disobeyed the COVID-19 prevention protocols to sell at unauthorised and unsafe places within the central business district of Sunyani.

Nana Kwame Addei Kuntuna IV, Nifahene of Sunyani Traditional Area who is the leader of the Sunyani Traditional Council Team among the Taskforce explained to the Ghana News Agency in an interview that owners of the items had not been following laid down rules created by the Sunyani Municipal Assembly for trading activities in the ‘city’ of Sunyani in this COVID-19 era.

They did not want to do their businesses at the satellite markets created by the Assembly for effective social distancing and were also not complying with other COVID-19 directives and protocols such as nose mask-wearing, regular handwashing with soap under running water or the use of hand sanitizers despite continuous education and warnings from 'city' authorities, he added.

Nana Kuntuna IV explained, however, that any owner of seized items had two days to follow up to the Sunyani Traditional Council to pay a fine to retrieve the items, but he added, failure does that implied the items would be presented to the needy for consumption.

Assistant Superintendent of Prisons Yahaya Yakubu, the officer on duty who received the items on behalf of the Deputy Director of Prison Robin Kwasi Asamoah Fenning, the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions Commander of the Ghana Prisons Service expressed gratitude to the Taskforce, saying, it would help boost the immune system of the inmates.