The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana, Most Rev. Titus Awotwe-Pratt, has urged President John Dramani Mahama to stand by his intention and promises to work for a united Ghana.
“While the church congratulates the President on the peaceful atmosphere in Ghana, it respectfully urges him to carry out his plans to work with all people for the common good, irrespective of their creed, ethnicity or political affiliation,’’ he said.
He was speaking at the 47th biennial national conference of the church at Tarkwa in the Western Region.
In attendance were the Vice-President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, and his wife Matilda.
‘‘The theme for the three-day conference is: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations: Rekindling the Methodist evangelical heritage for church growth.’’ (Acts 28:19)
The Presiding Bishop said ‘‘the Methodist Church Ghana is aware of the positive efforts and commitments made by both the Electoral Commission (EC) and the leadership of the various political parties in Ghana for peace before, during and after the presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in December, 2016.’’
He added that the church also appreciated the pledges they had made to work for a free and fair election.
‘‘We, therefore, commend the efforts being made and the success achieved thus far, as is testified to by reports of both local and international observers of our elections. The church is thankful to God for the international recognition of Ghana as an excellent example of growing democracy in Africa.
Most Rev. Awotwe-Pratt said the church was also aware of the increasing tension and the polarisation in the Ghanaian society, arising from various accusations, counter-accusations and agitations by some political parties.
Executive/Parliament/Judiciary
To that end, Most Rev. Awotwe-Pratt appealed to the Executive to co-operate with all other political parties in its bid to govern and develop the country and advised all Members of Parliament (MPs) to work together as representatives of all Ghanaians irrespective of their political inclinations for the common good of the people.
For the Judiciary, he urged members to continue to be fair, firm and just in the exercise of their functions to promote lasting peace in the country.
Most Rev. Awotwe-Pratt further advised the various political leaders to educate their followers to constructively engage agents of other parties in socio-economic and political discourse regardless of their differences in opinion.
He further urged media houses to make available their premises, facilities and talents for promoting mutual love, harmony, understanding and unity among all citizens.
Brief remarks
In his brief remarks, the Vice-President extended good wishes from the President to the church for a successful conference; and also urged the congregation to keep on praying for the Presidency to fulfil its obligation.
Mr Amissah-Arthur said as a member of the Methodist family, he recognised the need for the church to make sacrifices so that the legacy that had been bequeathed to the latter generation by the forebears of the church was not destroyed.
‘‘We are only swimming in the past legacy left for us, but there is a huge responsibility on us to revive schools, health and other social facilities which are collapsing, as well as the falling standards in the society through sacrifices from members,” he noted.’
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