Politicians Must Engage In Clean Campaign - PCG(Daily Graphic, 28th April 2011)

The first Presbytery Conference of the Upper Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) has ended in Garu with a call on politicians to engage in a clean contest, devoid of insults and other vices that could plunge Ghana into chaos.

“Election 2012 promises to be yet another political contest. We as Christians cannot wait or defer prayer and exhortation till the time comes. We wish to entreat all actors and aspirants in this election to engage in the contest with every sense of decency, knowing that since the earth is the Lord’s, the mathematics of governance and the equation thereof are in His supreme hands,” the Chairperson of the Presbytery, Reverend Esmund Wasau Nagba, declared.

This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a five-day Presbytery conference of the Upper Presbytery of PCG which, among other things, took stock of activities of the church in order to adopt new strategies to improve on the church's growth.

The Upper Presbytery comprises districts of the church in the Upper East and Upper West regions and is the 16th Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG). It was inaugurated in November last year.

The Chairperson of the Presbytery, while underscoring the need for the Christian community to amplify their gratitude to God for the relative peace prevailing in the country, pleaded with all to endeavour to keep the peace and work at ensuring the consolidation of this state of relative peace.

Rev. Esmund Wasau Nagba reminded chiefs, elders and traditional authorities, political functionaries and party faithful and media practitioners to continue to be mindful of their gate keeping roles when it came to peace and harmony and endeavour to let their responses and reactions to issues promote social cohesion and peace.

He said the church was particularly grateful to God for the wind of peace currently prevailing in Bawku and commended the various entities and agencies that worked tirelessly to restore some measure of peace in Bawku and encourage all to work assiduously to maintain the peace.

The Presbytery, he said, was unhappy with the withdrawal of the Mamprusis side from the Inter Ethnic Peace Committee deliberation and called on the Mamprusis faction to return to the negotiation table.

On the education front, Rev. Nagba said the church had noted with concern the standards of education, especially in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions, with a high percentage of senior high school leavers not qualifying for tertiary institutions and expressed the need for a collective awakening so that, together with the appropriate agencies, solution could be found to the problem.

“The Presbytery wishes to appeal to policy makers to ensure that the policy fluctuation on education, especially with regard to the duration of the senior high school is stabilised as a continuation of this fluctuation may not be good for the future of our young ones,” the communiqué noted.

On the Ecumenical front, Rev. Nagba congratulated the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese of the Catholic Church on its nomination of a new Bishop.

While praying for the successful installation of the Bishop, Rev. Nagba said the Upper Presbytery of PCG would look forward to a healthy ecumenical relationship so that, together with other church entities within and beyond the presbytery, they would work to deepen the faith.