The Deputy Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Paul Essien has revealed that, a policy on the regulation of religions in Ghana has been drafted and is pending approval by parliament.
He said, the activities of fake Pastors remains a growing threat and now requires bold measures to address it. Mr. Paul Essien said, it’s high time the activities of quack religious leaders are quashed.
“Most Churches and the Christian communities are not living by the Christian value and has concentrated on how to get wealth quickly…This has giving most youth the warrant to engage in ungodly practices. Most pastors have gone astray and infringes on the fundamental human rights of their fellow Christians’’. He said.
He added that, ‘’it is in the light of this that the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs have drafted a national policy on Religion to be submitted to Cabinet for approval’’.
The Deputy Minister was addressing a Special Service to climax the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Seventh Day Adventists in Sunyani. It was under the theme ”70 years of Adventism in Sunyani: Heralding the Second Coming of Christ”.
The SDA first arrived in Sunyani Newtown in 1949, starting with just 11 members. The Church has since grown significantly and can now boast of 37 branches and over 2000 congregants in the Sunyani Municipality alone.
The anniversary celebration, among others was aimed at generating income to build an ultra-modern Youth Resource Centre for the Sunyani Newtown community.
Talking to Radio Ghana on the sidelines of the event, the Head Pastor of the Newtown branch of the Church, Robert Ransford Yeboah said the theme for the event is appropriate as the second coming of Christ is close.
He advised the youth to be ambassadors of Christ and refrain from illegal means of getting rich. ‘’Our message is that, we should fear God and then worship him the day he has appointed for worship and give him glory for his judgement is coming…the youth of Today must work and work diligently, man must work before he enjoys the labour of his work’’. ‘’it is better we go back to our roots, there is much money in the soil’’.
He called for a collective effort to ensure the 2020 general elections is peaceful. The Krontihene of Sunyani Traditional Council, Nana Bofotia Boaponsem for his part said the growth of the Adventist Church in the Sunyani Municipality has benefited its inhabitants greatly.
The President of the Mid-West Ghana Conference of the SDA Church, Paul Twumasi Danquah said the SDA has been able to establish a lot of Educational Institutions and Health Facilities across the country and promised that more are underway.
”By God’s grace, SDA Church has been here for 70 years…and our hospital is second to the Bono Regional Hospital, in fact we have Secondary School in Sunyani and when it comes to schools we have Basic Schools, what we lack now is a Tertiary institution so it’s our vision to establish a College of Education in Sunyani Municipality… because in Berekum and Bechem, they have Colleges of Education’’. He disclosed.
In attendance at the event was the Bono Regional Minister, Evelyn Ama Kumi Richardson, along with the Sunyani East MP, Various MDCEs in the Bono Region as well as the Church’s hierarchy.
Story filed by Dauda Zul-kiful
