Parliament has passed the Imposition of Restrictions Bill 2020 into law.
The new legislation guarantees a certificate of urgency to provide powers to the President to impose restrictions on persons in the event of a disaster.
It would also enable the President to impose restrictions on emergency or similar circumstances to ensure public safety and protection.
Ghana’s legislative arm passed the Bill into law on Friday, March 20, 2020.
The Bill was passed despite strong opposition from the minority in Parliament.
They opposed the Bill on grounds that it fails to demonstrate the urgency attached to the process to get it passed.
The President can impose restrictions through an executive order for a period not exceeding three months.
A renewal is needed through an Executive order to extend the restrictions.
Failure to obey the law attracts a summary conviction to a fine of not less than 1000 penalty units and not more than 5000 penalty units.
Each unit is GHS12, putting the range of fine at between GHS12,000 and GHS60,000.
Culprits could also be liable to a prison term of not less than three months and not more than six months or both a fine and imprisonment.
