The Church must fight corruption

THE Church is expected to play a critical role in our national development efforts by serving the communities in which they operate and going to the aid of those in need.

Indeed, if one should take a critical look at the country’s health and educational facilities, a lot of churches own most of the facilities, especially in deprived communities. The Church also continues to play its role in peacebuilding initiatives in conflict areas.

The Church has also often spoken up on national issues, especially when things are not going the right way.

The Book of Proverbs 31:8 challenges the Church to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed… Speak up for the poor and helpless and see that they get justice.”

That has been the charge to our Church leaders, some of whom are highly respected for their forthrightness.

However, some of them have lost the position of influence and respect because of their selective commentaries. Some of them parade the corridors of power praying for duty bearers but fail to criticise such leaders. They often turn a blind eye to the negative things affecting national development.

It is in this vein that the Daily Graphic welcomes the pledge of the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt Rev. Dr Abraham Nana Opare Kwakye, to wage a relentless crusade against the tendency of fellow citizens to loot the national coffers (See front page of December 4, 2023, issue of the Daily Graphic).

As he said, he would lead the church to proclaim its prophetic voice on national and global matters, especially in speaking against any such act, no matter who was in the leadership of the country.

The Daily Graphic believes that the Church can effectively achieve its mandate if it also begins to wage a crusade in the churches for reformation of their members.

This is so because most of our political leaders and technocrats are members of these churches who seem not to learn anything from the sermons and homilies at the church, and end up committing these corrupt acts.

Interestingly, some of these corrupt leaders are given front seats and also honoured for their generosity to the Church.

Corruption remains the bane of our national development, and therefore, any effort to get rid of it or limit it is most welcome. We should not allow a few greedy ones to hijack state resources for their personal and family benefits when it could have been equitably shared for all to benefit from it.

Already, the country is facing challenges with unemployment, galamsey and filth. Addressing these problems require a lot of funds and yet we will have a few individuals and their cronies filling their pockets and bank accounts at the expense of the populace.

We believe that the Church would be lending great support to our anti-corruption agencies and civil society organisations if it pursues its agenda of demanding accountability from both political and non-political leaders.

In unity lies strength, hence all hands must be on deck to speak up against the ills in society so that we can build a just and equitable country.