Provide selfless leadership to reverse difficulties - Bishop Dogbe tells govt

The Presiding Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church, Rt Rev. Dr Hilliard Dela Dogbe, has charged the government to provide selfless leadership, good governance and strategic policies to reverse the present economic difficulties.

He said the country was faced with challenges which had greatly impacted not only its development agenda but household incomes, jobs, businesses and homes.

Bishop Dogbe said this when he presented his episcopal address at the second biennial joint session of the East, West and Mid Ghana Conferences of the church at the Pentecost Convention Centre at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central Region on Wednesday. He also entreated all Ghanaians to contribute their quota to change the trend.

The event was on the theme: "The Freedom Church; a movement empowered by the holy spirit; securing our future". Bishop Dogbe said government officials and policymakers had greater roles to play as managers of the economy to steer the situation and reverse the decline.

“Others have done it and I believe Ghana can also do it. With man, it is impossible but with God all things are possible. Let us move forward with God and with the best of our ability to secure our future,” he added.

Bishop Dogbe observed that “Parents are struggling to fend for their families, the young are worried about their future and the old are concerned about what legacy they are leaving behind.”

He said: “We are praying for a better Ghana where the standard of living will be good and people will be able to make ends meet.” The week-long conference is on the theme: “The freedom church; Securing our future,” and it is being attended by delegates from Ghana, Angola, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia and the United States of America (USA). It is to enable the church to reflect, review and revise to envision the future together.

Elections

While praying and calling for peace before, during and after this year’s elections, Bishop Dogbe admonished all the political players and the citizens to be mindful of their language and uphold utmost tolerance in their engagements.

“Ghana is the only country we have and therefore it is imperative for us to protect its dignity and its peace.” “Our political party, ethnic and religious differences should not divide us but rather reiterate our unity in diversity.

Let us endeavour to be tolerant to the extent that ethnic, religious and social identities should not be the basis for our decision-making or the basis for our engagements,” the AME Zion Bishop emphasised and said campaigns and engagements based on parochial interests, negative propaganda and denigrating each other to win power were unhealthy.

Discipline

Stressing the need for discipline in the Church, Rt Rev. Dogbe said pastors and presiding elders of the church who would be found culpable at the end of the audits would be sanctioned severely.

He said not only would such culprits be made to pay up on the default but their appointments would also be lifted. “I have cautioned, advised, directed, admonished but some continue to remain recalcitrant and turn deaf ears to us.

“Yes, we need pastors, but we cannot have pastors condoning malfeasance to lead our congregations,” he stated, saying “We need men and women of integrity on our frontlines.”

Bishop Dogbe said: “You all prayed for and elected me to protect the integrity of the church and I will not relent in my effort in this regard”. Speaking about the theme for the conference, he said a new strategic plan focusing on the youth, who he described as the rising voices of the church, would be introduced.

He said the youth must not be silenced, “rather let us bring them to the table, hear them and work with them if we are desirous of securing our future and to remain relevant.”
Bishop Dogbe further announced the construction of an AME Zion Church retreat and conference centre and said the church would cut the sod for the commencement of the construction in October this year.

Leadership

The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who graced the occasion, said the country must determine where it wanted to be in the future and carefully plan how to get there. That effort, he said, required visionary leadership and dedicated people who strove to achieve their ideals and aspirations for the future.

“If we are to truly secure the future, it is imperative that we carefully consider the implication of our current actions and inaction on our future and take steps to attain the desired goal,” he said.

Dr Bawumia said while the Western West Africa Episcopal District of the church was preparing to enter a new quadrennium, the country was also preparing to elect a new administration into office to steer the affairs of state.

Thus, he said, for both the church and state, “The theme reminds us that we have a future worth securing. He said no one secured that which was valueless and that on the contrary, “We go to all lengths to protect and preserve that which we consider to be of worth and value.”

The conference theme, therefore, Dr Bawumia indicated, was an appeal to each citizen to believe in the future and take deliberate steps now to preserve, protect and secure the county at all costs.

He acknowledged that “As with all nations around the world, we have had some very turbulent and troubling economic challenges in recent times”, but “this cannot and should not be allowed to dampen our confidence and faith in the future that God himself has for us.”

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo supported the conference, and for that matter the church, with GH¢ 50,000 while Dr Bawumia promised to also assist a hospital owned by the church with an ambulance.