The Executive Director of the Advertisers Association of Ghana, Francis Dadzie, has stated that all billboards with the mask-less Akufo-Addo pictures will be pulled down and changed immediately.

According to him, there were several meetings with a government representative before the billboards were erected but added that the Information Ministry was not consulted.

The Government on Sunday directed city authorities to remove the COVID-19 awareness billboards that feature President Akufo-Addo without a mask.

The billboards which have sprung up in many parts of Accra advocating the need for mask-wearing as a measure in curbing COVID-19 show a giant image of the President without a mask.

The spectacle has provoked criticism on social media with many questioning the commitment of the government’s campaign against the virus.

However, in a tweet, Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah suggested the billboards are not sponsored by the government.

“We appreciate all who seek to help Govt communicate at this time. But pls do well to engage with Govt on imaging and messaging. This billboard of the President without a mask is not from Govt. Note that at his last public appearance the President wore his masks till his speech,’ he wrote.

In an interview with Francis Abban on Monday, Mr Dadzie stated that all the billboards will be changed to help push the agenda to fight the killer COVID-19.

According to him, changing the images of the billboards will be at the cost of the DPP Ghana, the advertising company responsible for putting the images on the billboards.

“Immediately, we have decided to change the images on the billboards…and it would be at the cost of DPP Ghana,” Mr Dadzie stated on Morning Starr.