2017-03-04 10:47:00

Ghana Bishops promote social cohesion


Representatives of political parties in Ghana that participated in the 2016 general elections have called on members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, as a matter of urgency, to add their voice to the recent negative happenings in the country. With elections over, there have been reports of harassment and alleged politically motivated dismissals from public office of sympathisers of the now opposition party, the NDC.

In a post-election meeting with the Bishops at the National Catholic Secretariat (NCS) in Accra, the representatives appealed to the Bishops to speak out on national issues to help stop the political wrangling in the country.

The meeting, last week, was held to evaluate what went well during the 2016 elections and what did not work well. The idea is to make changes and improvements needed in time for the 2020 elections.

Convened by the Bishops, the meeting was also meant to discuss how religious leaders could contribute more efficiently to promoting social cohesion by building on the positive gains.

Political party representatives said the intervention of religious leaders during the 2016 elections helped reduce political violence. They, however, expressed worry about certain negative events happening in post-election Ghana.

The Parties mentioned cases where some people are being harassed at their workplaces, homes and other public places as a result of the election outcome.  They raised the issues of the removal of public officers, seizure of public properties, security after elections, and the sacking of some police recruits as cases in point.

The political party representatives expressed gratitude to the Catholic Bishops for their leadership in national matters including during the just concluded election.

The officials from the parties assured the Bishops that in spite of different political ideologies, they were determined and committed to the peace of Ghana.

Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale, Philip Naameh, who is President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference (GCBC) commended political parties and other stakeholders for their collaboration with the Bishops’ Conference to ensure that peace prevailed before, during and after the 2016 general elections.

(Damian Avevor in Ghana)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va








All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©.