The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference is admonishing Ghanaians and politicians to shun capitalising on religion for political gains. The Catholic Bishops are not enthused at the mischievous attempts to introduce and inflame religious passion in political discourse and activities in Ghana.
The Catholic Bishops are further instructing politicians and their supporters to respect the fact that Ghana is a secular state and try to put the country first in their political campaigns, so as to protect and preserve the peace and unity we have as a people.
The Chronicle finds the call by the Catholic Bishops very critical and timely because of the dis-honourable pronouncement by the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam George, that the sitting Vice President Dr Bawumia is a religious prostitute and the disingenuous defence being mounted by a section of Ghanaians could potentially stoke the fire.
The likes of Sam George must not be allowed to take the liberties we have for granted. Peace is expensive and must be guarded at all cost.
We, therefore, wish to restate the observation by the Bishops that Ghana as a nation is a secular state, recognising the right of all persons to practise any religion and to freely form or belong to any political party of their choice, irrespective of their religious affiliation.
It is against this background that we at The Chronicle join the Catholic Bishops in urging all Ghanaians to respect this prescription of our constitution and avoid any attempt to engage in “politics of religion”.
That path may appear to work in favour of some less informed political actors but in the end it would work against the gains of our democratic dispensation, disintegrate our families and communities and further cast a blot on our image as a beacon of democracy in Africa.
This, we believe, is not what we pray for as a country, for which reason The Chronicle would like to advise all Ghanaians to put Ghana first in their political campaigns, so as to preserve the peace and unity of our motherland.
While commending the pronouncement by the Catholic Bishops and the National Peace Council for cautioning Ghanaians to desist from inflaming religious and political passion ahead of the 2024 general elections, we wish to call on other stakeholders to be proactive in calling to order any individual or groups who may attempt to destabilise the country with their unguarded pronouncements.
The Chronicle is optimistic that when majority of the people who mean well for the country act with boldness, the few unpatriotic ones would not live to see their negative thoughts flourish.
The Catholic Bishops have shown the way and we must all rally behind their call to put in check those who wish to foment discontent and chaos in our society.
