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Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has emphasized the need for Ghanaians to continue to peacefully co-exist and to consolidate efforts at doing so.

He believes Ghana's high ranking in continental and global peace rankings was a testament to the impact of people of different faiths tolerating one another over the decades.

Bawumia, while speaking at the launch of the 175th-anniversary celebrations of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church Ghana (EPCG) in Accra on Sunday, July 31, 2022, cited himself as a testament to how different faiths can co-exist.

He disclosed growing up with a Methodist mother and being an active part of a Methodist Boys' grouping.

All that changed when his mother, then Susana Mariama, reverted to Islam - the faith her husband practised.

“We live in a society where a mother and some children could be Christians and a father and some children could be Muslims. As a young boy at Sakasaka primary school in Tamale, I was born to a Methodist mother (then Susana Mariama) and a Muslim father.

"Growing up I was an active member of the Methodist Boys’ Brigade until my mum changed to Islam. I suspect I am the only Muslim member of the Boys’ Brigade. Till date, out of my seventeen siblings, nine are Christians and eight are Muslims. That is the beauty of the religious acceptance in Ghana,” he revealed.

In September 2021, Bawumia lost his mother, Hajia Mariama Bawumia. She passed on in Accra at 81 and was buried later beside her husband in Kperiga, near Walewale in the Northeast Region.

Ghana ranks high on GPI 2022 ranking

Ghana was last month ranked the second most peaceful country in the sub-Saharan Africa region only behind the island nation of Mauritius.

This is according to the 2022 edition of the Global Peace Index, GPI, report released this week.

The country's overall score was 1.759 as compared to 1.715 in 2021, the score also placed Ghana as the 40th most peaceful country on the global ranking of 163 countries.

The global rank means Ghana dropped two steps from the 38th spot in 2021. Per the 2021 global scores, Ghana is sandwiched between Kuwait and Albania.

Completing the top five most peaceful African countries are The Gambia (45th globally), Botswana (48th) and Sierra Leone (50th) in that order.

What Bawumia said about the ranking

“This is a remarkable feat that must be guarded jealously without any compromises no matter what. Both the Bible and Quran place much emphasis on the matter of peace.

"And it is gratifying to note that in Ghana we have such a religiously tolerant and acceptable society that makes it effortless for a Christian priest to worship with Muslims and vice versa, to the point that a Muslim Chief Imam could celebrate his 100th years anniversary with Christians in the church,” he stressed.