Ghana must exist for the poor not political parties – Clergy
The Parish Priest of the St. Augustine Catholic Church, Asante Akyem Agogo of the Konongo-Mampong Diocese, says Ghana must exist for the poor and not to promote political parties and their functionaries.
Monsignor (Msgr.) Matthew Edusei says “one big block to public discourse is that of the hegemony of political parties. Suddenly this country exists for a political party. I don’t know how it happened, but that’s where we are.”
He said this during the 125th Anniversary Celebration Lecture of the Accra Archdiocese at the Bakhita Catholic Church, Communty 20, Lashibi, Tema.
Msgr. Edusei observed that instead of Ghana existing “for the poorest of the poor, to raise our common brothers from abject poverty, it is the success of a political party we’re are concerned about.”
He added that, “We wait for them to come to power, sack everybody and put their men there. Why don’t they start their own industries so that they can reward the people who helped them to come to power?”
Msgr. Edusei, who was also the former Rector of St. Peters Regional Seminary, Cape Coast, observed that all this was happening because everybody was silent on the matter which had allowed politicians to play with the heart and minds of Ghanaians.
He called on Roman Catholics who were members of political parties as well as other well-meaning Ghanaians to help transform these parties by moving away from seeking their own interest and look out for the common man.
He cautioned against the clamouring for positions within governments saying “we must ensure that no president is put in bondage to political manoeuvring by people who helped him to come to power. He came into office to serve the people, not to reward political party members.”
He indicated that Ghana’s wealth was not for any particular political party and those who fight to bring political parties into office must do so as a sacrifice unto the nation and not as a means to enrich themselves.
The Catholic Archbishop of Cape Coast and the Apostolic Administrator of the Accra Archdiocese, Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, admonished Catholics not to be dormant when it came to deciding the faith of their children and the nation as a whole.
Source: GNA