Veep Advises Ghanaians: Let The Law Speak

Vice-president John Dramani Mahama has urged communities to use the law to resolve their differences and misunderstanding, instead of taking the law into their own hands. He also underscored the need for Ghanaians to maintain their unique sense of identity, shun prejudice against one another and not to allow personal conflicts to degenerate into ethnic clashes. "Personal conflicts should be limited to personal conflicts; they should not be extended to all people. We should learn not to be prejudiced against one another," he stressed. Mr Mahama made the call at the 75th anniversary of the Saint Paul's Catholic Cathedral in Asante Mampong in the Ashanti Region on Saturday. The anniversary was on the theme: "Come and Let Us Build". The Saint Paul's Cathedral, which began with a few people 75 years ago, now has 1,500 members and 13 outstation churches. The call by the Vice-President comes on the heels of communal clashes in Hohoe in the Volta Region and Ekumfi Narkwa in the Mfantseman municipality in the Central Region in June this year. Mr Mahama said the recent clash in the Central Region between two ethnic groups over the killing of a chief, an act which later turned out to have been allegedly committed by someone from the chief's own group, was an example of how a misunderstanding could lead to a clash between two ethnic groups. He, therefore, advised that in case of any misunderstanding, people should resort to the use of the rules and regulations to resolve those conflicts. He said Ghanaians generally lived peacefully with one another, despite their differences in language, customs and culture, and underscored the need for the country not to allow that unique sense of identity to disintegrate. He also said Ghanaians needed to integrate to propel the countries socio-economic development. On this year's presidential and parliamentary elections, he expressed worry over the unguarded speeches, wild rumours and outright lies by some politicians. He said those unguarded speeches and outright lies would not win the elections for anybody, adding, "It is the electorate who will decide who will win the elections." Mr Mahama urged the public to reflect on the messages given out by politicians and make informed choices during the elections. He stressed the need for Ghanaians to conduct themselves peacefully in the run-up to the elections and gave an assurance that the government would do everything possible to ensure peace before, during and after the elections. He asked the Catholic Bishops Conference not to be perturbed by the insults they had received in the media, especially on the Internet, from some faceless individuals when the conference condemned the hate speeches by some politicians. On the work of the Catholic Church, the Vice-president said the church had been instrumental in the building of schools, hospitals, clinics and vocational and technical training centres in the country. Besides, he said, it had produced men and women of substance who were contributing to the socio-economic development of the country in different sectors of the country. Mr Mahama asked the church not to sit on the fence but join the government to develop the country. He stressed the need for the church to try to transform the people to eliminate the ills of society, such as cyber fraud and drug addiction. The Catholic Bishop of the Konongo Mampong Diocese and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Most Rev Joseph Osei Bonsu, condemned hate speech by some politicians and discrimination against people who wanted to register during the biometric voters registration exercise in some areas because of their names. He expressed dissatisfaction at the growing indiscipline in the country and cited driving under the influence of alcohol, bribery, corruption and armed robbery as examples. The Most Rev Bonsu said those attitudes were contrary to Christian and Ghanaian cultural values and, therefore, asked the church to rise up to arrest the situation.