NPC, other stakeholders call for end to politics of religion

 The National Peace Council (NPC) and other stakeholders have expressed concern about some recent insinuations and publications on electronic and social media seeking to inflame religious passions as the nation prepares towards the 2024 general election. 

The other stakeholders are the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), the Office of the National Chief Imam and the Catholic Bishops Conference.

The institutions have urged all individuals and groups engaged in such insinuations and publications to desist from such actions as it tended to destroy the country’s long-cherished pluralistic friendly society.

They further urged all Ghanaians to expose such characters who had embarked on this mission to whip up religious sentiments ahead of the 2024 general election.

This was contained in a statement issued and signed by the Chairman of the NPC, Rev. Dr Ernest Adu Gyamfi; the Chairman, CCG, Rev. Dr Hilliard Dela Dogbe; the Spokesperson, Office of the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu, and the President of Catholic Bishops Conference, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi. 
 

Diversity  

“As the National Institution responsible for peace in the country, the NPC and our partners wish to remind all Ghanaians of the admirable manner by which we have lived together in peace, despite our religious, political and ethnic diversity.

“We have a duty as a people to continue to co-exist and tolerate our diversity.

Article 21(1) (c) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana recognises and protects the right of all persons to freely practise any religion and to manifest such practice.

“Besides, Article 21(3) provides for and protects the rights of all Ghanaians to freely form or join political parties and to participate in political activities subject to the qualifications and laws as are necessary in a free and democratic society and consistent with the Constitution,” it said 

Context

The concerns by the NPC and the other bodies are the result of a creeping new phenomenon of politics on religious lines emanating from the different religious persuasions of the flag bearers of the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress.

Some politicians have started using the religious differences between the two personalities to campaign, which the Council and other stakeholders believe if not nipped in the bud, might affect national cohesion.