Editorial: We salute Akufo-Addo, Otabil

President Akufo-Addo, yesterday, addressed the nation, where he once again put a number of measures in place to address the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in Ghana. Among these are the continued closure of our land borders and airspace. He also extended the ban on public gatherings till the end of the month.

The Chronicle lauds the President for wise decision taken to protect the people of Ghana. We are praising him because we are aware of the pressure that was brought to bear on him to lift the ban on public gatherings, which has affected especially church services throughout the country.

Since the closure of churches and mosques has never happened in the history of this country, some of the religious leaders are finding very difficult to cope with the situation. Whilst some of them (clergy) are agitated on genuine grounds, others are also looking at their own parochial interests – the regular revenue they are losing.

As we have repeatedly argued in this column, Covid-19 is a deadly disease which we must not joke with. Unfortunately, some of our religious leaders have not appreciated the situation and continue to exhibit their ignorance.  These are the people, we believe, putting pressure on the President to lift the ban. Since our religious leaders are powerful in the country, any President would have succumbed to their pressure, but this never happened.

The Chronicle is equally commending, the General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church, Pastor Mensa Otabil, for coming out boldly to kick out against any plan to lift the ban of public gathering, which would have enabled the churches to re-open. Unlike some of his colleagues, Pastor Otabil has really demonstrated that he cares about the welfare of his people, and that pecuniary gains is not part of his mission in establishing the church.

Here is a pastor leading one of the largest Christian denominations in the country, and possibly raising thousands of cedis each Sunday from offerings and tithes. One can, therefore, imagine how much the church has lost in terms of revenue since the lockdown and ban of public gatherings was announced by the President. But, as a true man of God, he is not looking at the revenue loss, but the genuine love for his people in these difficult times.

We hope other pastors in the country would emulate his good example and stop threatening the President to lift the ban, because of the revenue they are losing. The Covid-19 is wrecking havoc in the world, and if we sit down here in Ghana to think only about revenue losses, we shall find ourselves in serious trouble. Even those who have the financial wherewithal are struggling with this dangerous disease so much. How about we, Ghana, a third world country with limited resources?

The post Editorial: We salute Akufo-Addo, Otabil appeared first on The Chronicle Online.

Read Full Story