The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) has urged the Special Prosecutor to focus on Auditor General reports amid concerns of corruption and mismanagement of public funds.

In a communiqué, the council said this will help “save this country from the brink of social upheavals.”

“While Ghanaians are being called upon to pay more taxes to facilitate development, we have public officers embezzling, misapplying and misappropriating public funds through various corrupt activities causing the state to lose billions of Ghana Cedis, with most culprits going unpunished over the years,” it said.

Ghana has maintained its ranking of 73 on the Corruption Perception Index with a score of 43, which is classified as low.

The communiqué also touched on issues like the political instability in West Africa, the impending passage of the E-Levy Bill, tensions in Bawku and the UTAG strike.

On the Bawku issue, the council said it was “willing and committed to provide support in this regard through the National Peace Council.”

“As the government works to resolve the labour disputes, the council also urged “the National Labour Commission in particular to at all times demonstrate a posture of impartiality and proactiveness in resolving labour disputes, rather than being reactionary in their approach to dealing with labour unions.”

Find below the full communiqué

COMMUNIQUE ISSUED BY THE GHANA PENTECOSTAL AND CHARISMATIC COUNCIL AFTER DELIBERATIONS AT THE 2022 CONFERENCE OF HEADS OF CHURCHES AND ORGANIZATIONS HELD AT PENTECOST CONVENTION CENTER, GOMOA FETTEH FROM 1ST TO 4TH FEBRUARY 2022

INTRODUCTION

We, members of the National Executive Council (NEC) and Heads of Churches and Organisations of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) at the end of our Annual Conference at the Pentecost Convention Centre, Gomoa-Fetteh, having prayed and deliberated on the current state of the Church and our nation Ghana hereby issue the following communiqué for the attention of our members and all Ghanaians. Matters addressed in this communiqué include: A call to prayer for the Church; Security of Ghana, West Africa and the Sahel Region; Call for Unity and Consensus Building in Parliament; Youth Unemployment and Fight against Corruption.

FOR THE CHURCH AND CHRISTENDOM

1. We are grateful to the Almighty God for ushering us into a new year in a peaceful manner. We call on Ghanaians and particularly all Christians to pray for Ghana and also for all nations of the world where there are conflicts. We also solicit prayers for Christians all over the world who are going through all forms of persecutions because of their faith in Jesus Christ.
2. We reaffirm our commitment to work together with other Church Councils to deal with the proliferation of false prophets and their false and alarming prophecies, which have in recent times become a source of concern not only to Ghanaians, but to the Council as well. In as much as the Council believes strongly in the biblical doctrines of prophecies and miracles as signs of the workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians and the Church, the wanton abuse and manipulation of the sound doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ by these charlatans for their egocentric interests ought to be exposed and condemned by the majority of genuine Christians. As already forewarned by our Lord Jesus Christ that in the last days many false prophets shall arise, it has become our responsibility once again, to warn all Ghanaians and particularly the Church of the activities of these charlatans. We must return to the study of the unadulterated Word of God as the surest way of countering these false prophets.

NATIONAL CONCERNS

3. The Outcome of the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections left no one in doubt that Ghanaians voted for unity and consensus building, especially in an almost hung Parliament. The recent confusion in Parliament over the passage of the E-Levy Bill has exposed the extreme partisanship and lack of consensus building between the Executive and the Legislature and between the leadership of the two main political parties in Parliament.

The Council is therefore appealing to all parties to use dialogue and consensus building in coming to decisions in the interest of the collective will of the people of Ghana whom they seek to serve.

4. The recent political instability in West Africa, especially in Mali and Burkina Faso is of great concern to the Council and many Ghanaians as it has the potential to spill over into Ghana and other West African countries, thus destabilising the entire sub-region. While commending government for reinforcing our northern borders with additional military presence to ward off any potential infilterations by the Jihadist, and their allies, we call on government to take steps to address key human security threats such as food, economic and livelihoods security issues within the Ghana.
5. The Council is calling on the main factions to the Bawku Chieftaincy conflict to ceasefire and resort to dialogue and other peaceful means to resolve this protracted conflict that has claimed many lives, destroyed properties and turned the hitherto bustling border commercial centre into a ghost town in recent times. We urge all the key actors, interested parties and stakeholders to put aside their personal and sectional interests and seek the collective well-being of the people of Bawku, with the understanding that the violence has never resolved any conflict. In order to rebuild the trust and social cohesion that has broken down among the various ethnic groups, the Council is urging government to as a matter of urgency support the National Peace Council with the needed resources to facilitate the revival of the Bawku Inter Ethnic Peace Committee, which in the past had work tirelessly to sustain peace and development in the Municipality. As a Council, we are willing and committed to provide support in this regard through the National Peace Council.
6. The recent unrest in the labour front, especially in the education sector and particularly the almost four weeks industrial action by the University Teachers Assocoiation of Ghana (UTAG) is of grave concern to the Council. We are therefore calling on government and UTAG to consider the long term impact of this stalemate on the future of our students and return to the negotiation table with open minds, less entrenched positions and commitments to respecting the outcome of all negotiated settlements. We also urge the National Labour Commission in particular to at all times demonstrate a posture of inpartiality and proactiveness in resolving labour disputes, rather than being reactionary in their approach to dealing with labour unions. While urging the government-the employer to demonstrate sincerity and commitments to a lasting negotiated settlement to this impasse, we also wish to appeal to UTAG to consider calling off its industrial action and returning to the negotiation table.
7. While commending government for the various youth initiatives under the Ghana Care Programme, it is the view of the Council that if these initiatives are not well coordinated and nurtured to create innovative youth entrepreneurs to solve the unemployment challenges, especially among the youth, we may be sitting on a time bomb ready to explode in our faces. Strengthening TVET is the way to go in creating sustainable employment, and we call on the government to open a broad national consultative process on the Free TVET policy to ensure that the quality of practical TVET trainings are not compromised.

In this regard we wish to also commend government for its partnership with the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) and other Ecumenical Councils in the training of many youth in various short term entrepreneurial based TVET skills using our training facilities across the country. We thus wish to assure government of our continued commitment to supporting in the various youth TVET initiatives under the Ghana Care Programme to create sustainable employment opportunities for young Ghanaians.

8. The Council again notes with concern the increasing cases of corruption and mismanagement of public funds as revealed by the 2020 Auditor General’s Report on MMDAs and some SOEs.  While Ghanaians are being called upon to pay more taxes to facilitate development, we have public officers embezzling, misapplying and misapproptiating public funds through various corrupt activities causing the state to lose billions of Ghana Cedis, with most culprits going unpunished over the years. We therefore call on the Office of the Special Prosdecutor  to take keen interest in the reports of the Auditor General to save this country from the brink of social upheavals.
9. In conclusion we reaffirm our strong belief in the Ghanaian through the Church of Jesus Christ, to rise once again to the challenges of nation building, urging all to eschew all forms of negative attitudes that draw back national progress but instilling in us the sense of patriotism.

God bless our Homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.