‘Elect men of integrity into office’
A United Kingdom-based Ghanaian preacher, Rev. Dr Henry Godson-Afful, has urged the youth to use next year’s elections to elect men of integrity into political office.
He said the youth must not allow the affluence of candidates to influence their choices.
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Speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic, Rev. Godson-Afful said whereas elsewhere the character and integrity of people were the key considerations in electing them to occupy key positions, the case was different in Ghana and most developing nations.
“We prefer loud people, popular and famous people who may not even have the right virtue to lead the people. In our part of the world, those who insult the more get the biggest promotion. This is very sad,” Rev. Godson-Afful said.
Morality
Rev. Godson-Afful said the rise in social vices among the youth was evidence that Ghana was sitting on a “moral time bomb”.
He said vices such as drug abuse, sexual immorality in tertiary institutions and cyber fraud among the youth needed to be urgently addressed.
He has, therefore, called on the clergy, civil society groups and faith-based organisations to rise up and come together to wage a serious campaign against acts of indiscipline.
Rev. Godson-Afful, who is also an education consultant, said until stakeholders teamed up to tackle indiscipline and crime, the country’s next youth generation would push Ghana onto a wrong path.
“Now is the time institutions must stand up and address issues that continue to make the youth adopt immoral and criminal lifestyles. If care is not taken and we allow it to proceed, our entire nation would be shocked to see where Ghana will be in the next few years,” he said.
Youth
Throwing light on what might be the cause, Rev. Godson-Afful said the poverty gap between the rich and the poor, coupled with the lack of jobs and the affluent lifestyle of politicians “is beginning to provoke the youth who are still suffering”.
“This generation of youth will grow to hate the society because leaders are enjoying but nothing is being done for them,” he said.
Rev. Godson-Afful said it was time the clergy began to change their message and tailored it to address issues that confronted the youth and the entire country.