‘Don’t ignore Religious Bodies’
By Damian Avevor and Angela Ofosu Boateng
Members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) and Heads of the Member-Churches of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), have appealed to Government not to ignore Religious and other Bodies who are major stakeholders in education service delivery in Ghana. “We think that it is truly unfair and objectionable to continue to ignore Religious and other Bodies who are major stakeholders in education service delivery in Ghana.”
The Religious Leaders called on Government as a matter of urgency, to hasten the signing of the Education Partnership Document and put in place the necessary structures and systems to ensure that it works and is respected by all. This was contained in a Press Statement by the GCBC and CCG after their Annual Joint Meeting held in Accra, during which they prayed and deliberated on issues of both Church and national importance.
The four-page Statement was signed by Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference and Rt. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel K. Martey, Chairman, Christian Council of Ghana.
According to the Religious Leaders, over the years, Religious and other Bodies with schools have partnered the State in education service delivery and this has ensured easy access, academic excellence and holistic moral upbringing of students.
Unfortunately, they said the absence of any document to guide this 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 their stipends and the general frustration of their work by some officials of the Ghana Education Service.
On the Economy, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) and Heads of the Member-Churches appealed to Government to listen to the calls of individuals and groups including Religious Bodies for the development of a long-term National Development Plan for our country. They also asked the Government to initiate the process to develop one that will be respected and implemented by successive governments.
According to them, there was the need to revisit both the spirit and agenda of the Senchi Consensus which made concrete proposals to solve Ghana’s economic woes.
“We wish to know whether it has been abandoned due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package or it has been incorporated into it,” they added.
“We have received with surprise the news that Ghana faces a real and serious risk of falling into the league of High Debt Distress Countries (HDDC) from the IMF on the basis of Ghana’s excessive borrowing and indebtedness which is estimated to be about 76 billion Ghana Cedis as at December last year.”
We believe this is a cause for worry, considering the fact that we came out of HIPC not too long ago. We call on the Government to do all it can to save the economy of our country from its current unstable and precarious state.
The Statement touched on a whole range of national issues including National Health Insurance Scheme, District Assembly Elections and 2016 General Elections, Constitution Review Process, Petroleum Exploration and Revenue Management, Power Outages in Ghana (Dumsor), and the Persecution of Christians in the World.
Read the full statement in the next issue
Members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) and Heads of the Member-Churches of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), have appealed to Government not to ignore Religious and other Bodies who are major stakeholders in education service delivery in Ghana. “We think that it is truly unfair and objectionable to continue to ignore Religious and other Bodies who are major stakeholders in education service delivery in Ghana.”
The Religious Leaders called on Government as a matter of urgency, to hasten the signing of the Education Partnership Document and put in place the necessary structures and systems to ensure that it works and is respected by all. This was contained in a Press Statement by the GCBC and CCG after their Annual Joint Meeting held in Accra, during which they prayed and deliberated on issues of both Church and national importance.
The four-page Statement was signed by Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference and Rt. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel K. Martey, Chairman, Christian Council of Ghana.
According to the Religious Leaders, over the years, Religious and other Bodies with schools have partnered the State in education service delivery and this has ensured easy access, academic excellence and holistic moral upbringing of students.
Unfortunately, they said the absence of any document to guide this 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 their stipends and the general frustration of their work by some officials of the Ghana Education Service.
On the Economy, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) and Heads of the Member-Churches appealed to Government to listen to the calls of individuals and groups including Religious Bodies for the development of a long-term National Development Plan for our country. They also asked the Government to initiate the process to develop one that will be respected and implemented by successive governments.
According to them, there was the need to revisit both the spirit and agenda of the Senchi Consensus which made concrete proposals to solve Ghana’s economic woes.
“We wish to know whether it has been abandoned due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package or it has been incorporated into it,” they added.
“We have received with surprise the news that Ghana faces a real and serious risk of falling into the league of High Debt Distress Countries (HDDC) from the IMF on the basis of Ghana’s excessive borrowing and indebtedness which is estimated to be about 76 billion Ghana Cedis as at December last year.”
We believe this is a cause for worry, considering the fact that we came out of HIPC not too long ago. We call on the Government to do all it can to save the economy of our country from its current unstable and precarious state.
The Statement touched on a whole range of national issues including National Health Insurance Scheme, District Assembly Elections and 2016 General Elections, Constitution Review Process, Petroleum Exploration and Revenue Management, Power Outages in Ghana (Dumsor), and the Persecution of Christians in the World.
Read the full statement in the next issue