Focus on voting process to record minimal spoilt ballots
The Chairman of the Western Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rev. Dr Albert Frank Anakwa, has appealed to prospective voters in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections to pay particular attention to the voting process so that for once, this year’s polls will record very minimal spoilt ballots.
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‘‘Let me emphasise that voting during elections in the country has witnessed considerable number of discarded ballots, which in my view, does not augur well for the country’s democratic process, so let us learn lessons from the past and avoid such mistakes,’’ he observed.
29th Presbytery session/theme
Rev. Dr Anakwa, who was addressing the 29th Presbytery Session of the Western Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at Tarkwa in the Western Region, also pointed out that voting to choose leaders was a bounden duty of every Christian.
“I am, therefore, admonishing every Presbyterian and every citizen of the country to prepare to take part in this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections, and indeed all other future polls,’’ the chairman told members.
The theme for the three-day meeting, which also elected Rev. Timothy Ernest Annoh as the new Chairman of the Western Presbytery, was, ‘Anointing of the Holy Spirit’ (1John 2: 20-27).
He obtained 40 votes out of the total 53, to beat two other contestants, Rev. Abraham Kofi Odobil and Rev. Ishmael Dometey Asare, who polled nine and four votes respectfully in an election conducted by the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal office of the Electoral Commission (EC).
Clean campaigns/ level playing field
Rev. Dr Anakwa further advised politicians to conduct clean campaigns, devoid of insults and insinuations against their opponents, bearing in mind that it is only God who chooses competent leaders.
“I call on the Electoral Commission to be resolute, not bowing to any pressure from whatever quarters, by providing a level playing field for all contestants and parties, so that at the end of it all, the will of God would prevail, and Ghana will be the winner,” he appealed.
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The Western Presbytery Chairman recalled that even before the close of last year, ministers of the gospel started talking about the elections which would come up this year, admonishing all the faithful and the entire population to conduct themselves very well during this all-important national exercise.
Tarkwa-Bogoso road
Rev. Dr Anakwa commended the government for its commitment to complete the Tarkwa-Bogoso road project, whose poor state he had since 2014 been writing and speaking about.
He also lauded the supervising agency for heeding the call of the church for effective monitoring and supervision and the contractor for a good work done.
‘‘While also commending the government for stabilising the cedi since November 2015, my second plea still stands that effective and sustained measures should be implemented so that the nation would not suffer again the constant depreciation of the cedi, either now or in the future,’’ the chairman entreated.
The Lay Representative of the Western Presbytery, Dr Stephen Yirenkyi, noted that the country was in a critical period as Ghanaians would elect a new president and parliamentarians, thus all should work for peace to prevail before, during and after the elections so that at the end of the day the nation would be the victor.