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The Flagstaff House was the scene of a spiritually filled breakfast and prayer meeting yesterday as an assembly of the clergy joined hands with President John Dramani Mahama to pray for the peace and progress of the country ahead of the November general election.
 
Speaker after speaker did not hide the fact that the nation was in a crucial period that demanded the hand of God to see it through not only a peaceful election later this year but also socio-economic progress going forward.

President Mahama, under whose auspices the one-and-a-half event was organised, said there was the need for religious leaders to keep interceding on behalf of the nation.

He said intercession for the nation must be a constant feature.

“We have to continue to make the intercession and Ghana will have the opportunity to become one of the prosperous countries of the world,” he said.

President Mahama also urged religious leaders to team up with the government to give hope to the people that the country could be better.

“There is too much cynicism in the country. We believe that our country is the worst in the world,” he said, but noted that many countries envied Ghana because of the strides it had made in socio-economic development.

The President noted that in an election year, there were bound to be disagreements among the political actors, mentioning the disagreements over the voters register as a typical example.

National ID 

President Mahama, who used the occasion to explain some of the decisions taken by his administration, said an Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS) was to be established for the production of national identification cards.

He explained that under the new system, immediately the biometrics of a person were captured, the card would be produced.

He indicated that the new system would eliminate the bottlenecks associated with the old national identification registration exercise, citing that more than 2,000,000 identity cards could not be accounted for after the exercise.

Corruption

Touching on corruption, the President said the fight against the canker was a difficult one but the government was determined to battle it to the fullest with the support of Ghanaians.

He noted that the presence of a liberal media in the country had painted the picture that Ghana was so corrupt.

“But if you look at the Corruption Perception Index, Ghana continues to make progress every year,” the President pointed out.

On the controversial Ford Expedition gift, President Mahama said there was no question that the vehicle was for the state.

 “I have never been under the illusion that that vehicle was a gift to the state and it’s never been used for my personal comfort,” he said.

The President said he had heard of a petition before the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and indicated his readiness to respond appropriately to it.

He dismissed the perception that every government project was implemented through sole sourcing and said only 1.7 per cent of total government contracts were executed through sole sourcing.

Economy 

Taking a look at the global economy, the President said the whole world was facing a lot of uncertainty and although Ghana went through some economic challenges, he indicated that the economy was now resilient and prospects had been predicted to be bright

He also talked about the removal of subsidies and said, “It was a very difficult decision to take.”

He explained that the economy would have collapsed if that decision had not been taken.

Speaking about security, he said the country remained the safest and securest on the West coast, adding that it continued to collaborate with other countries to ward off threats from terrorists.

He mentioned the Fulani herdsmen and their activities as one of the major security threats and said it was an issue that must have a comprehensive solution.

Intolerance 

In a word of exhortation, the Chairman of the National Peace Council, the Most Rev. Emmanuel Asante, said many people had difficulty in recognising the true reason Jesus Christ came to set up His Kingdom, which hinged on service and humility. 

He stressed that power presented an opportunity for people to be selfless.

As the nation prepared for the election, the Peace Council Chairman admonished Ghanaians to do away with acts that could mar the peace of the nation.

He expressed concern over the way some Ghanaians, especially politicians, reacted to people perceived not to be in their camp. He said that was intolerance and mentioned three things that informed intolerance as the inability to realise that one could not monopolise truth, misplaced loyalty and the inability to match the negatives to positives.