The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante has called on citizens of Bawku and its environs to let peace prevail for the development of their communities.
The Moderator of PCG made these remarks during the dedication of the Chapel of the Peniel Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, in Bolgatanga.
“I visited Bawku yesterday to pray for the peace of the community and also to encourage members of the Christian community to let the peace of Jesus Christ dwell in their hearts. I charged the Christian community to allow the peace of Jesus to emanate from their hearts to everyone in the community”, the Moderator said.
Rt. Rev. Prof. Mante, who also doubles as the Chairperson of the Christian Council of Ghana was in the Bawku community to assess first-hand the situation on the ground, particularly how the Presbyterian Church of Ghana Congregations and Presbyterian Institutions in the community have been coping with the insecurities since the start of the current insurrections.
At the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital, the Moderator was briefed by the acting head of the Bawku Presbyterian Health Services, Mr. Thomson A. Apana, and District Minister, Rev. Nii Blebo Annang.
Mr. Apana said since the beginning of the recent conflict, the Nursing and Midwifery College has been partially closed down. The final year students have been transferred to Bolgatanga so they could prepare and write for their final examination. The first-year students also have begun their training in Bolgatanga. The other continuing students are at home waiting till the security situation is good enough for them to return to campus.
On the situation at the hospital, he said there were only twenty patients on admission in the four hundred-bed capacity facility. Regarding the Out-Patients Department (OPD) that received over four hundred patients in a day, he said it had reduced to an average of fifty patients. He added that the staff members were being paid while staying home causing a huge financial drain to the hospital.
Making a statement on the situation, the Moderator said, “l want to appeal to the feuding factions, whether Kusaasi or Mamprusi, you are first and foremost Ghanaians! Do not let the divisive aspects of your history destroy the peace we have today. We are all Ghanaians. We all have the same Ghanaian blood flowing through us. It is only a design of history that you are Kusaasi or Mamprusi. Do not let your history destroy your future. There is a new Ghana we all want to build where ethnocentrism is rejected. We all come from somewhere, and we belong to different groups but no matter how one feels about their ethnic group, we belong to a new Ghana”.
The Moderator added that the world is moving forward and improving in many areas with development, and we cannot afford to draw ourselves back with interethnic issues. We cannot and should not be fighting each other. “I know of people whose parents are from both ethnic groups”. We should remember that there was a time when countries we called developed today were once a band of ethnic groups who decided to come together to build a brighter future.
“I plead with all my heart, let peace prevail and let it be done quickly. The PCG does not want to be compelled to get to a situation where it has to move the Presbyterian Hospital, Nursing and Midwifery College, and other schools out of Bawku” he said.
The Moderator was accompanied on the visit by Rev. James Awuni, the Upper Presbytery Chairperson, and the PCG National Director for Mission and Evangelism, Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Sarbah. The visit was part of the Moderator’s pastoral tour of the Upper Presbytery of the Church which comprises of Upper East, Upper West, and some parts of North East and Savannah Regions.
Source: Presbyterian Media
