Presby Moderator Berates Corruption

The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey, has called on Ghanaians to use the celebration of this year�s Easter to resolve to fight corruption and evil, two challenges confronting the country today. According to him, Ghana was currently confronted with corruption, armed robbery, intolerance, drug abuse, ritual murders and greed, with many doing little to address the challenges. Addressing the media on the church�s 2012 Easter Message, Rt. Rev. Martey said although government took a bold decision in instituting measures to investigate the judgment debt payment saga, there was still the need for a very transparent and fair investigation to be conducted into it. According to the Moderator, if there was any lesson to be learnt from the judgment debt saga, it should be the activation of public consciousness so that the citizenry and various arms of government would be vigilant. He therefore called on the media to perform the leadership role in country by voicing evil deeds. �It is sad to observe that the peace we have in the country is being threatened through political activities and social commentators who have made it a habit of using the media to incite violence and also use abusive language against anyone who shares his or her objective opinion on topical national issues. �Since press freedom is guaranteed under the country�s constitution, the media ought to responsibly exercise that freedom to safeguard the nation�s democracy and see to it that a platform is not created for people to recklessly destroy the reputation of others,� he said. According to him, Ghana would only have peaceful elections in December if political leaders followed the footsteps of Jesus, the truly Chosen one. Touching on the attitude of Christian leaders in the country, the Moderator noted that Ghanaians needed bold leaders who would not keep quiet for evil to triumph in any agenda. �We must speak the truth, no matter what; even whenever we keep quiet over the truth, evil and falsehood victoriously takes over. Those who take God seriously will not keep silent over their faith, and will not fail to act what they believe in, even at the cost of their reputation, their jobs or their lives,� he noted. According to Rt. Rev. Prof. Martey, some churches were sick and suffering from spiritual malnourishment by ignoring the word of God which he said was the source of true spiritual nourishment. �We see church leaders who are not honest and are therefore afraid to speak the truth for fear of being taken on or insulted. Whilst some church leaders lack integrity and ascribe to themselves academic qualifications and church titles that they do not deserve�. He noted that it was no wonder that Ghana and surrounding countries abounded with charlatan pastors who did not care about immoral acts, fraudulent behavior, unethical conduct and the giving of false prophecies due to institutions describing themselves as �bible colleges� and seminaries, without any accreditation, awarding high degrees after just a few day�s seminar. The Moderator therefore appealed to Ghanaians to show kindness, mercy and compassion toward one another to demonstrate the sacrificial example exhibited by Christ on the cross which had become a benchmark for all Christians.