Undertake due diligence regarding your investments — Rev. Emmanuel Antwi-Tumfuor
The National Director of Evangelism with the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) Church, Rev. Emmanuel Antwi-Tumfuor has urged Ghanaians to do due diligence on investment companies before dealing with them in order to avoid being overtaken by adversity in future.
Additionally, he urged the public to take warnings from financial regulatory institutions over mouth- watering returns promised by some investment firms serious in order to keep their investments safe.
Rev. Antwi-Tumfuor, who is also the Pastor of the Elom Parish of the EP Church at Ho Bankoe in the Volta Region, said this in a Special New Year’s Message last Sunday.
“Beloved in the Lord, we cannot detach ourselves from the rest of society so whatever happens in our dear country affects us directly or indirectly.
We are all aware of recent public agitations regarding investments locked up with some savings and loans and micro credit companies.
“Reports of scam associated with some financial institutions are not good for the government’s investment drive,” he said.
Opportunities
He said Ghanaians are hoping for better opportunities this year in all aspects of their lives and “it is our prayer that the government’s economic policies will impact positively on the living conditions of the people”.
“As a minister of the Gospel, I find it heartbreaking to see fellow citizens finding it difficult to make ends meet.
Preaching to such souls becomes a great challenge since they need to be mentally, physically, psychologically and emotionally stable to receive the message of the Lord,” he said.
Rev. Antwi-Tumfuor said, Ghanaians were obliged to contribute in various ways to make the country great and stem the tide of young people risking their lives on hazardous journeys through deserts and across oceans to seek opportunities overseas.
Governance
He said the media played a critical role in how citizens got information and regarding the way the country was developing.
He added that with media pluralism the media landscape had become very vibrant with more light being shed now on corruption, human rights abuses, inadequate infrastructure and schools and hospitals, unemployment challenges, streetism and child-labour among other things.
Rev. Antwi-Tumfuor said there was need therefore to encourage the media to come up with more indepth reports on challenges the nation was facing and how these can be resolved.
“It is hoped that Parliament will facilitate the speedy passage of the Right to Information Bill in order to help information sourcing and dissemination.
Our MPs, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and other stakeholders should contribute to having the bill passed into law since information was critical to democratic governance,” he said.
He called for action against acts that seek to intimidate journalists or prevent them from doing their work freely.
“There’s need to discourage attacks on journalists who are only out publishing reports that mirror society and to making us have informed knowledge about the way the country was developing.
He nonetheless urged journalists and other media practitioners to adhere strictly to the ethics of the journalism profession in order for them to enjoy the support of the masses who depend on the media for vital information on the country’s socio-economic and cultural dimensions as well as on the way it was being governed.