Parties neglect religious bodies in manifestos — CCG
The Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) has said political parties in the country have neglected religious organisations in their various manifestoes ahead of the December 7 polls.
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According to the General Secretary of the council, Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, churches need recognition in the form of policy statements in the manifestoes of the various political parties.
“We are aware, at the moment how the various political parties are embarking on much intensified public education campaigns, discussing the content of the various manifestoes to the public. We have observed with some discomfort that even though the churches and other religious bodies are key partners in our national development, we don’t see policy direction in issues in the manifestoes,” he said.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, Rev. Dr Opuni-Frimpong said there was lack of commitment in raising issues regarding the affairs of the Christian community and other religious bodies in the nation by politicians.
Contributions
He said over 40 per cent of health institutions in the nation, the large number of people it employs in secretariats, affiliated business and the establishment of government assisted schools, the churches role in public education and its contribution to the sustenance of the banking industry were some of the inputs of the church to the development of the State.
He was, however, of the view that, irrespective of these contributions, key challenges confronting religious institutions in the country had not been addressed by politicians on their campaign front.
“If the churches are in charge of about 40 per cent of your hospitals and political parties would design manifestoes and ignore the church, it is very worrying,” he said.
Challenges
He mentioned some of the challenges as the partnership between the government and the Church in the management of the mission schools, adding that it seems churches had been side-lined in the running of these schools.
He added that issues such as the lack of progress in pleas from the churches to the government to give tax rebates and other incentives to private not-for-profit Christian Universities, the crippling of Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) facilities by the overly delayed payment of the National Health Insurance claims, and the lack of a state foreign policy to support Ghanaians churches which had established missions outside the country must be addressed.
