Engender confidence in electoral process; Catholic Bishops, Christian Council appeal to EC
The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference (GCBC) and the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) have called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to engender confidence among all players in the preparation towards the conduct of this year’s general election.
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That, they said, required the EC to be neutral, fair, honest and transparent in all its actions and decisions.
“The commission should continue the process of engagement with all political parties and other stakeholders on the way forward for the elections. Pertinent issues such as the problems associated with the limited voters’ registration exercise, the cleaning of the voters register as ruled by the Supreme Court, biometric verification, among other issues, need to be addressed now,” they stated.
The call was contained in a communiqué issued by the two religious bodies at the end of their May 2016 annual joint meeting in Accra, during which they prayed and discussed issues that are important to the Church and the nation.
It was jointly signed by the President of the GCBC, the Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, and the Vice-Chairman of the CCG, the Most Rev. Titus K. Awotwi Pratt.
According to the communiqué, other critical issues including what the EC intended to do with the proposed Steering Committee, as well as the needed reforms of the electoral system, as submitted by the Reforms Committee, and the way forward for the recommendations of the five-member VCRAC Crabbe Committee, must be made known now.
It said the proposed November 7, 2016 elections might seem to be far but they were not and, therefore, appealed to the EC to act expeditiously and come up with a clear road map for the upcoming elections.
Political tension
The communiqué noted with worry and anxiety, the current political atmosphere and called on all politicians and their supporters to be circumspect and decorous in their utterances and actions.
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“We are distressed and worried by the current display of political impunity and complacency evident in intimidation, accusations, counter-accusations, hate speeches, intra-party and inter-party violence, threats of kidnapping and murder, among other concerns. These acts are poisoning the political atmosphere and so we call on all politicians and their followers to exercise restraint and help calm the emerging political tension in the country,” it said.
The communiqué also said the problems associated with the recent limited registration exercise had convinced the leadership of the two religious bodies that some politicians and political parties would do anything and everything to win political power.
“We are ashamed by the reported cases of violence, the transportation of foreigners to register and the registration of minors during the exercise. This is a sad commentary on our acclaimed democratic credentials and we call on those involved to bow down their heads in shame.
“We urge our politicians to cease making elections a matter of life and death for Ghanaians. We equally urge our citizens to reject those who come to win their support with propaganda, money and gifts because such people will not do anything for them when they win political power,” it stated.
Spy Bill 2015
The communiqué described the proposed Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages Bill as unnecessary and called for it to be withdrawn from Parliament.
It said the memorandum accompanying the Bill suggested that it was to combat crime, suppress organised crime, including money laundering and terrorism, and protect national security.
“We believe that there are existing laws which deal with these issues. These laws, including the Criminal Offences Act 1960, (Act 29) the Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission Act 2003 (Act 649) and the Narcotic Drugs Law (Control, Enforcement, Sanctions) 1990 (PNDC Law 236) all deal with acts envisaged in the Bill,” it noted.
Besides, it noted that the proposed Bill risked infringing the fundamental human rights and freedoms of people as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution, and giving unfettered powers to the National Security Coordinator who could use the powers conferred on him to interfere with the communications of persons perceived to be “enemies” of the state.
“For these reasons, we think that Parliament must not pass this Bill but rather find ways to strengthen the existing laws meant to achieve the same ends envisioned in the Bill,” the communiqué stated.
NHIS
It noted with concern that after almost 10 years of the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), it continued to grapple with teething problems such as the continuous and repeated failure to reimburse healthcare facilities on time and incessant threats of court action and service withdrawal by service providers, among other challenges.
That situation, it said, was making the sustainability of the scheme very precarious.
“Needless to say, our health facilities are collapsing under the scheme and the frustration of both staff and patients is unbearable. We reiterate the appeal we have been making all this while that as a matter of urgency, the government should collaborate with all stakeholders to come up with a clear and workable road map for the sustainability of the scheme”.
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Economy
The communiqué acknowledged the efforts by the government to put Ghana’s economy in good shape and prayed that those efforts would yield their intended results.
“We also commend the government and the National Development Planning Commission for initiating the process to develop a 40-year long-term National Development Plan for our country.
“We, however, think that the government can still do more to save the economy of our country from its current unstable and precarious state by creating more jobs for the youth and following prudent economic policies. Government needs the support of all Ghanaians to fight the canker of corruption which has pervaded every sector of Ghanaian life,” it noted.
Power outages
The communiqué welcomed the progress made so far to resolve the unfortunate situation of ‘dumsor’ which has seriously affected the overall economy of the country for more than three years.
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It also said the “unstable” power supply situation as well as the frequent system failure and astronomical electricity tariffs were worrisome and called on the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Department (NED) to address those concerns.
Fulani herdsmen
It urged the government to deal with the menace posed by the negative activities of Fulani herdsmen in the country.
The communiqué said inasmuch as Ghanaians respected and abided by the ECTOSARC policy of free movement of persons, goods and services, they were equally obliged to protect their lives and properties from the negative effects of the invasion of Fulanis and their cattle in some parts of the country.
Church-State partnership
The communiqué observed that religious and other bodies with schools had partnered the State in education service delivery over the years; a partnership which has ensured easy access, academic excellence and holistic moral upbringing of students.
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It noted, however, that the absence of any mutually accepted signed document to guide that partnership over the years had led to the gradual and systematic weakening of “our stake in education delivery, evident in the lack of collaboration with our educational managers, the withdrawal of government grants and the general frustration of their work by some officials of the Ghana Education Service.”
It said recent efforts by religious and other bodies to formalise a partnership agreement had received no positive response.
“We are aware that there are plans to formulate a new Education Bill. We strongly recommend that the Bill should take into consideration the proposals contained in the draft Memorandum of Understanding on Education Partnership submitted by us and currently before the Ghana Education Service, the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service Council,” it stated.
The communiqué, therefore, urged the government to take a second look at the issue of the three-year and four-year duration of senior high schools (SHSs) and recommended the adoption of a two-tier approach as contained in the Prof. Anamuah-Mensah Committee report.
Other areas the communiqué touched on included examination malpractices, sanitation and environmental destruction, migration outside Africa and religious fanaticism and threats against religious leaders.