IT IS RELIGIOUSLY WRONG TO ABUSE PRESIDENT (PAGE 17)

THE Drobo Area Pastor of the Assemblies of God Church, Reverend Nti Anane, has denounced the way and manner some people insult and castigate people in leadership positions, including the President, with impunity, under the cover of free speech and political expediency.
He explained that it was religiously wrong to openly abuse the President and, indeed, people in leadership positions, since it was God who appointed such personalities to be leaders, saying such insults were invariably directed at God.
Rev Anane made the condemnation at Dwenem, near Drobo, when he contributed at a durbar organised by the Jaman South Office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) at Japekrom in the Brong Ahafo Region. It was on the theme, “Tolerance Towards Violence-Free Elections on December 7”.
The area pastor observed with concern that because of politics some individuals could mount political platforms and make unsavoury statements against their opponents, adding that “we should not allow politics to divide us because we are all one people with a common destiny”.
A director at the NCCE head office in Accra, Mr Michael Dadzie, advised the people to let tolerance be their watchword and avoid the politics of vilification, pointing out that the framers of the 1992 Constitution, in their wisdom, made room for the multi-party system of democracy, which meant that different people could come together to form a political party, and that it was not a crime for someone to belong to a party of his or her choice.
He said the Constitution also guaranteed the free participation of people in party activities, free expression of one’s views, without fear of intimidation or prosecution, but cautioned that such pronouncements should not be inflammatory, adding that for the upcoming general election, there was the need for peace and mutual understanding.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Director of the NCCE, Mr Michael Amponsah, also explained that the democratic concept was such that every citizen had a say in governance, while there was always a struggle for power to rule, without resorting to arbitrariness, and stressed that whoever emerged victorious in an organised election was given the power to govern the state.
The Roman Catholic Catechist at Dwenem, Mr Peter Yaw Yeboah, noted that for peace to prevail, the media had a crucial role to play by reporting in a circumspect manner, while politicians refrained from personality attacks.