Former NDC Central Regional Chairman, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, has asked Catholic Bishops to tell Ghanaians whether the tithes their congregation is paying has reduced, for which reason, they blame the Akufo-Addo government for the hardships confronting the populace.
The Catholic Bishops accuse the government of not protecting the public purse and also paying less attention to the plight of Ghanaians.
The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev. Philip Naameh, speaking at this year’s plenary assembly of the Association in Wa on Monday, November 8, said;
“Though poverty stares us in the face, it appears lost to those with power. The expressed commitment of the President of the Republic to protect the public purse, a promise that citizens welcomed, seems to be an illusion now.”
He asked;
”Are those managing the public purse not concerned about waste and misapplication of resources that belong to all Ghanaians? Can this be referred to as irresponsible use of power or the lack of compassion and empathy?”
”Those who are entrusted with power that comes from our collective will must know that what they do with that (power) shapes what we all will become in the future,” he cautioned the government and politicians.
Allotey Jacobs, reacting to the Bishops’ statements, noted what they are complaining about is nothing new as there has never been a perfect situation in Ghana.
According to him, no government since the era of Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah, has been able to completely solve the issue of poverty and corruption, therefore wondering why the Bishops would make it seem it’s during President Akufo-Addo’s administration that all the hardships have suddenly sprung up.
”Since the time we gained independence from Gold Coast to Ghana, have we been satisfied with every government that comes to power? As human beings, we are never satisfied . . . This country has come very far. Nobody, from Kwame Nkrumah’s era, can say Ghana is developed . . . We have never been satisfied. It’s a fact!”, he exclaimed.
To Allotey, the clerics’ comments may be informed by their congregants’ low financial contributions to the church.
” . . do I have to say that the church’s collection, tithes and dues are dwindling, so may be from that angle, he (President of the Bishops’ Conference) sees that people are suffering?”, he questioned.