The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference (GCBC), following the reportage on the alleged murder of an 11-year-old boy for money ritual purposes, has issued a statement condemning the act and calling for intervention to avert similar occurrences in the future.
In the statement, the GCBC described the incident as bizarre, shocking and gruesome, adding that it “exposes us as a people and as a nation.”
“We live in a country where wealth is celebrated and elevated above everything, where the rich are worshipped without questioning the source of their wealth, where good leadership qualities are equated to donations, where individuals believe they have to make money by hook or by crook, where the end justifies the means, etc.” the clergy elaborated.
Asking “what has gone wrong with us and why we are where we are today,” the group considers the developments a security threat to the nation and therefore calls on stakeholders to get it over with.
The statement reads: “We therefore call on all major stakeholders, especially the Regulators of our media space, to clamp down on these fraudulent spiritualists, mallams, pastors and others who through their audio-visual content continue to propagate evils and their “get-rich-quick” activities on our television stations and social media platforms.”
While expressing their condolence to the bereaved family of the late Ishmael Mensah Abdallah, the GCBC urged the public to chart a new path for themselves if they “intend to build a country with people who appreciate the need for hard work, honesty, values, integrity and the desire for genuine acquisitions of wealth as opposed to the current situation of thirsting for quick wealth by hook or crook.”
Background
On Saturday April 3, 2021, Police in the Central Region arrested two suspects, Felix Nyarko and Nicholas Kini aged 16 and 17 years respectively, over alleged murder of Ishamel Mensah Abdallah.
According to Police report, the suspects, wanting to get rich by means of money rituals, invited the deceased into an uncompleted building where they hit him with a club and cement blocks killing him instantly.
They afterwards buried the deceased in the uncompleted building awaiting his removal at night for the ritual purposes when they were reported to the police about the crime.
The two are currently in Police custody undergoing investigations while the body of the deceased has been deposited at the Police hospital morgue to be later given to the family for burial.
