A pastor and overseer of New Charis Ministry, located at Tema Community 23 in the Greater Accra region, has counselled against corruption saying the practice hinders the progress of the individual engaged in it and the association he or she belongs to.
Speaking on the theme “But he had leprosy”, a sermon taken from the book of II Kings chapter 5, Pastor Ernest A. Alao-Caesar said the Syrian Army Commander, Naaman, was a soldier of high repute, yet had a shortcoming which was leprosy, an infectious disease that requires an infected person to be quarantined.
The preacher, likening sin—of which corruption is no exception— to the disease, said they are unclean things that bring about the seclusion of people from the group deemed clean or society they belong to. The attendant problem of the seclusion, according to him, is the hindrance it causes to the collective progress of the group.
He said: “Naaman was a man of repute, a man with skills. People needed his skills, his country needed him for victory, but he had something that could lead to his isolation—leprosy.”
Pastor Ernest therefore urged the public and officer holders to desist from every corrupt and sinful practice with caution that it would take a toll on the individuals and the society at large, if not dealt with.
“If you don’t stop the corruption you are involved in, one day you are going to be exposed and you are going to be a disgrace to your family, a disgrace to your company and even a disgrace to your political party,” he cautioned.
He also expressed concerns about the jittery state the youth of the country have been left in, as a result of the morally reprehensible acts of some persons in powerful positions.
The youth in recent times have taken to social media with the hash tug “#fixthecountry”, to complain about developmental issues involving all sectors of the economy: infrastructure development, employment and its accompanying living standards, corruption, high tax rates, power crisis etc.
Though they have attempted demonstrating but have been unsuccessful due to police restrictions, leaders of the group have indicated that they would not relent but would keep pushing for change.
The New Charis Ministry leader, in relation to the happenings, said “it was time to put a stop to the corruption” adding, “the youth of this country are tired of the corrupt practices of our politicians; the men on the pulpits—pastors—and the corrupt practices of our school administrators.
“Ghana is tired of corruption. Africa is tired of corruption and it is time for our people to take a clean and new turn to give hope to our continent.”
However, on January 28, 2021, Transparency International (TI), published a report on Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for the year 2020.
In the report, Ghana scored 43 out of 100 points, two points improvement on 2019’s.
Consequently, the score places the country 10th among countries that are least corrupt in Sub-Saharan Africa and 75th on the global ranking which also meant a five place improvement on the 2019’s.
Countries that have performed better than Ghana in Sub-Saharan Africa include Seychelles 66, Botswana 60, Cabo Verde 58, Rwanda 54, and Mauritius 53 among other four countries.
Ghana outdid Benin, Lesotho and Burkina Faso who scored 41, 41 and 40 respectively.
To improve on Ghana and other African countries’ performances and engender development in all sectors of their economies, Pastor Ernest advised that the countries take care of the ‘buts’ [the negative practices].
